The Crabby Cook - by Jessica Harper

What you see here is a picture of a butternut squash I made the mistake of trying to peel.
Well, I don’t care what Ina G. says. Don’t attempt to peel a butternut squash before it’s cooked. As a friend of mine said, it’s like wrestling with a rock. The upper body exercise is such that you will require physical therapy afterwards. Just cut the damn thing into chunks and roast ‘em, THEN peel ‘em and proceed with your recipe.
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As usually happens at this time of year, Mother Nature is being a drama queen. One day it’s 60º, the next it’s 90º. This makes menu-planning very difficult. Are you supposed to make soup for dinner or chicken salad? Not that menu-planning is something crabby cooks really do anyway. Generally speaking, I plan the evening’s menu when the evening is already in full swing. Read More

For my Thanksgiving video, I was hoping to upgrade it a little, make it more like a Food Network thing, add a little polish…
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Do you think that, if he gets enough criticism for it, John Boehner will rethink his skin color? Will he finally buckle under the ridicule and forgo the tanning booth or the Oscar spray or whatever method he uses to achieve that goofy tan? This burning question came to mind last week when I noticed a jack-o-lantern on my block that looked way too much like the future Speaker of the House. Read More

My new favorite bread is Pain Quotidien’s 5-grain bread with raisins. Use it to make a grilled cheese sandwich (to go with your butternut squash soup) and your troubles will be over. If you have no troubles (in which case you are either a Republican or delusional), make it anyway and you will remain trouble-free. If you do not follow this advice, trouble may come your way, but, hey, it’s your call.

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With our daughters off at college, my husband and I were home on Sunday, staring at the jack-o-lanterns I carved (or rather, drilled—see instructional video), missing the kid-filled Halloweens of the past, with all the costume obsessing and sugar rushing. This year, we didn’t even know the name of Disney’s current ruling princess, whose dress was worn by a multitude of girls on Sunday, just as her predecessors’ gowns dressed up our daughters.
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