Sunday, October 18, 2009

Squash in My Cereal

This is the time of year when I have cravings for a taste called WARM.

The tastes, textures, and temperatures of cinnamon oatmeal, ginger pancakes, pumpkin muffins, creamy squash soup, and curried chick peas, all point to WARM.

It's hard to say exactly what warm IS, you just know it when you taste it. So this week, I searched for WARM.

I first found WARM on Wednesday at Whole Foods Market. I opened up my winter squash cooking class with a sample of cinnamon squash oatmeal. When tasting this basic combo of cinnamon, butternut squash, oatmeal, soymilk, and agave syrup, participants lit up as the addition of butternut squash turned up the WARM factor on a basic breakfast staple.

The next day, I found WARM at work. As my colleague and I tinkered with a savory spiced bulgur dish, it was with a quick lift of the lid and a small blast of spicy steam that our verdict became clear: more cinnamon. Combining bulgur with tomatoes and onion made this dish a hearty basic. But with the addition of cinnamon and raisins (raisins were an improvised addition) we had found WARM.

On Friday, along came my head cold. It was WARM I reached for rather than the medicine cabinet.

Into a pot, my husband threw basic staples we had on hand: carrots, onion, chicken stock, corn, potatoes, salt, and pepper. It was clear something was missing, so we added winter squash and toasted baguette slices (staled 7 weeks ago!). With these simple additions, my cold remedy deepened in flavor, thickened in texture, and found its way into WARM. A soothing pot that saw us through the weekend.

May you find WARM and KEEP warm.

Be Well.