First Two Meals

Well, I haven't been able to update anything for that past couple of days because the internet was down... it's finally working!!
So, while the internet was taking a break, I still cooked my first two meals, and first four recipes! Here's a recap of what happened:

Day 1 ( Saturday, October17, 2009):
Menu: "Sauteed Skate Wing" (p255) with "Boiled, Parsleyed Potatoes"(p.304)
Well, the first attempt was not without its problems. For one thing, while the recipe called for hazelnuts, hazelnuts decided to disappear off the shelves of every grocery store I went to! So, as a quick replacement, pine-nuts were substituted. But, with the pine-nuts came the ever present issue of toasting. In the past, when I have toasted pine nuts, I always forget about them. However, I am quickly reminded by the waft of smoke that permeates the air around me. Yes, burnt pine nuts are no fun. Thus, when I put the pine nuts in the toaster oven, I told myself, " you won't forget this time!".... five minutes later.... half the pine nuts are burnt....so much for that!
Other than that, the rest of the meal went pretty smoothly. The potatoes boiled up nicely, and though I used Cilantro instead of Parsley ( they look so similar!), they still tasted delicious.
Instead of Skate, I used the much easier to find Tilapia, and with the buerre noisette, pine nuts ( the few that weren't burnt) and grapefruit ( yup, the recipe called for it) the dish pulled together pretty nicely. The only thing I would change ( sorry Martha!) is the grapefruit. In the recipe, she says to supreme a grapefruit and put 3 slices on top of the fish and pour the buerre noisette-pine-nut sauce over top. I didn't personally find the grapefruit that, well, beneficiary.
As for the family approval, while my dad picked all the pine nuts off his fish , and my sister only ate the potatoes, my mom and brother liked the whole meal. Success!

Day 2 (Monday Oct 19, 2009):
Now, you may be thinking, what happened to Sunday? Well, let me put it simply.
Rain + sinus infection= sleep all day.

So, on Monday night, albeit a school night, I was in the kitchen cooking.
Menu: "Roasted Pork Loin"(p.134-5) and "Roasted Winter Squash"(p.313)
Where to begin on this one.... well, lets start with the fact that the recipe shows a picture of the pork loin carefully packaged in pancetta with a sprig of rosemary peeking up daintily. The twine holding it all together is perfectly symmetrical. I'll start out by saying that with a younger sister and brother comes the issue of missing things. So, the missing thing for the day would be the twine! The twine that was in the drawer, is no longer....This forced me to use my creativity when packaging the loin. So, instead of a symmetrically tied twine, I was forced to use sewing thread. I'm not even joking. It was the only stupid string I could find! When I pulled the pork out of the oven to check the temperature, my mom burst out laughing. The pork looked like it was a tailoring job gone bad. Yet, the pancetta and sprig of rosemary did manage to adhere themselves to the pork! Who needs twine....
As for the side dish, it was a little daunting. Well, I kind of made it hard on myself. At the store, instead of buying a smooth, easy to cut butternut squash, I opted for a more exotic looking, lumpy, hard squash ( I don't remember what kind it was). Cutting and peeling that thing was a nightmare. I couldn't figure out where to start cutting! So, after essentially butchering the darn squash, I dashed on some maple syrup, olive oil, salt, pepper, and sage leaves. I admit, I varied a little from Martha's recipe, but that is the way I love to cook squash.
The dinner was a hit, even after the threads of string were painstakingly un-threaded. It was quite an ordeal, but, one that I can look back on and just laugh.