Pumpkin Spaghetti Squash Carbonara

e get hella winter squash from our CSA, which is slightly overwhelming, but also not bad because they last quite a long time and you can always roast them and then freeze the puree (confession: I still have frozen pumpkin puree from last year...).  Luckily I actually really enjoy pretty much all squash, which I'm not sure I knew until I was an adult.  I don't recall eating lots of squash as a kid, though maybe my mom hid it in dishes to get us to eat it, but if I remember right, she did mention how when she was a kid her mom fed her canned squash and it was gross, so she endeavored to save us from that fate.  I mean, canned squash in the 60s probably wasn't that great, let's be real.  Locally grown, organic, farm fresh squash though?  Yum.   
This past summer, Dan and I planted a bunch of herbs in front of our house, which has turned out to be so great when it comes to seasoning dishes.  Just run out the front door with a pair of scissors, snip some leaves, and we've got fresh herbs to cook with!  We did sage, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, and lavender.  My last attempt at growing herbs was a failure, but I'm convinced basil is just a finicky herb and refuses to grow for me.  We did have mint, too, but I forgot to water it for a couple months. There's rogue mint growing in our old neighborhood, though, so whenever I want to start a new plant, I just go snip a piece from the alley where it's infested and plop it in some water until it starts to grow roots and bam.  New mint plant!


Ingredients
(recipe via cooking for keeps)
For squash:
1 spaghetti squash, roasted
2-4 tbsp olive oil
salt + pepper

For breadcrumbs:
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/8 tsp salt
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

For sauce:
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup half & half
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice squash in half lengthwise. Drizzle with a little olive and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for about 45-50 until easily pierced with a fork.

2. While the squash is roasting prepare the breadcrumbs and sauce base.  In a large non-stick skillet melt butter over a medium heat. Add breadcrumbs, 1/8 teaspoon salt, sage and 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese. Toast until golden brown, making sure not to burn. Remove.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, pumpkin, cinnamon, 1/4 tsp salt, half & half, and parmesan cheese.

4. Once the squash is done roasting, let it cool for a few minutes.  Using a fork, pull the squash away from the skin, creating “noodles”.  Pat with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.

5. In the same skillet you cooked the breadcrumbs, heat over a low heat. Toss the hot spaghetti squash noodles into the skillet along with the egg yolk mixture. Toss the noodles until completely coated. The hot squash will cook the eggs.

6. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with breadcrumbs and extra parmesan cheese and garnish with fresh sage leaves.  Enjoy!

merry christmas!

postcards from paradise pt. 2

e've been back from Hawai'i for a couple weeks and it kind of feels like it was all a dream!  A very good dream.  Also, looking at these photos is a little crazy because the day after we got home, Dan shaved his beard clean off!  Ah!  It was a little very unsettling.  I've gotten used to it now, but it's funny how different he looks in these photos!  I think if I lived in Hawai'i I'd have to make a living taking pictures of plants and cocktails, because both are just so much more pretty and vibrant in tropical climes.  But I probably shouldn't live in Hawai'i because I'm sure I'd drink way too many Mai Tais.  Too much of a good thing. I feel like we're itching for a change of scenery, Dan + I.  Between going to Hawai'i and having time to dream, and talking to people who have been inspirational, we've been talking a lot about moving or just traveling more.  We just chatted with one of Dan's old high school friends who just came back from living in NYC for two years and we were like, "Huh... we could do that, that'd be interesting, eh?"  It's nice daydreaming about living somewhere else for a bit, though I suspect that regardless of where our travels take us, we'll probably end up somewhere in the PNW.  Still, I don't want to spend my whole life in Tacoma.  As much as I love it, I need to stretch my legs and get out for a bit. 


 


 


 

gold in them thar hills

he story of these jeans goes all the way back to my very first year of blogging, actually the first few months!  Back then I didn't really do a lot of outfit posts yet, but I did a lot of sharing style images that really inspired me.  One of the outfits I fell in love with was this one shot from a Nylon magazine spread that I'm sure I found somewhere online of an actress wearing the most perfect outfit featuring gold painted jeans.  I was smitten and desperately wanted a pair, but couldn't find them anywhere, and I'm sure the pair they had in the magazine shoot were designer jeans that were well outside of my college student budget.  I had thoughts of DIYing them, but I never did and sort of forgot about it.  Flash forward SIX years and I'm browsing through ModCloth and lo and behold...  I scroll to the jeans.  Like, these are them you guys, they look exactly the same.  And bonus: they're my absolute favorite brand of jeans, Angry Rabbit!  I have two other jeans by them, both high waisted, which fit like a dream and when I got these I didn't even realize they were Angry Rabbit until I looked at the label.  Gold jeans can't be practical right?  Wrong.  I've worn these jeans probably 4 times since getting them, and they're actually so perfect for holiday parties right now.  They feel sexy and festive, but still a bit casual and definitely rock and roll.  

 


jeans/courtesy of modcloth :: top (similar)/cosette jacket (similar)/modcloth :: shoes/thrifted :: photos of me by Dan It's funny how my style has sort of come full circle.  I look at that post where I shared the image from Nylon and I love the vibe of all the images.  I think some people see finding personal style as an end goal, but I think the whole process is what's cool.   How all your influences, past and present, shape how you want to dress.  It's funny thinking back to 8th grade me, who really wanted blue hair, but didn't want to have to bleach her hair to achieve it.  By 9th grade my high school had changed the dress code so no "unnatural" hair colors were allowed and I gave up on my blue hair dreams, but here I am now, at 28, rocking some blue(ish) hair!  Sometimes we feel like totally different people compared to our younger selves, but sometimes it's bizarre how much we stay the same.  And speaking of staying the same, look who has two thumbs and cut bangs again!  This girl.
  

Hexagon Painted Wall Mural Tutorial | Tacoma Mural Artist

've been painting my living room slowly over the last year and a half.  The first thing I did was paint two of the walls white, then I painted my big chalkboard wall, but I still had one wall left.  It was still the boring, dingy beige that was there when we moved in.  I knew I wanted some kind of pattern or statement, but nothing too crazy because I already had a huge black wall.  When 

The Home Depot

 and 

ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape

 contacted me seeing if I'd be interested in doing a painting project in collaboration with them, I knew this was the perfect time to finally finish my living room!  I love how it turned out!  It's clean and neat, and a statement but not visually overwhelming.  I picked some muted, pastel 

Behr® paint

 colors so it wasn't too bold.  I'd already painted the door bright yellow so I wasn't sure if the muted colors would clash, but I love how the door stands out and is still in the same color family as the yellow hexagons.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape

Behr® Premium Plus Ultra™ Paint

- I used: I used: Glacier Bay #500A-1, Citrus Hill #200B-4, Bee Pollen #390B-5, Chocolate Froth #720C-2, and Simple Silhouette #790B-5

Wooster®

 Pro 

brush

Scissors

Pencil

Cardboard

DIRECTIONS:

1. Decide on your pattern.  I used photoshop to mock up how I wanted my design to look on the wall and which colors would go in each hexagon.  This also helped determine how big I wanted to make my hexagon template.

2. Create your hexagon template.  It's pretty easy to make a hexagon, but you'll want to make sure it's pretty close to perfect so that your pattern doesn't get wonky.  I used

this super easy little tutorial

with a makeshift compass.  My hexagon ended up being 13 inches from tip to opposite tip (diameter of the original circle drawn). Cut the template out of some cardboard or other sturdy material to trace around.

3. Draw the outlines to the hexagons using a pencil.  Make sure your hexagons are level.  I leveled the first one and then outlined about 4 or 5 and checked the level again, just to make sure I wasn't getting off level.  In each hexagon I lightly wrote the color that would be painted inside.

4. Using your  

ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape

, outline the hexagons that aren't directly next to each other.  Since these hexagons are directly butting up against each other, you'll have to wait for the paint to dry so you can mask off the one next to it.  I masked as many hexagons as possible and painted the color that was written inside using my Behr paint.  Each hexagon got two coats of paint.

5.  Because I had to wait for each hexagon to dry before taping the one next to it, this project took a little longer, but I'm super happy with how it looks.  As soon as I painted the second coat on a hexagon I'd remove the tape and allow it to dry.  This project took three days to complete with the time required to wait for paint to dry.  I let the paint dry about 2 hours between coats, as recommended by 

Behr®

.

I have to say I was skeptical about how good the Edgelock tape would

really

be in comparison to the regular painters tape I usually use, but I was super happy with how precise my edges were.  I didn't have to fix any leaks and the edges were

so

sharp and clean.  I used the

Delicate Surface Painter's Tape

, but 

ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape

 has

a guide that can help pick

the right tape for your project surface.

I am proud to be a 3M, Behr®, and Wooster® - sponsored blogger, and, as part of my responsibilities, I get the opportunity to evaluate products. Opinions are my own and additional product used in the project were selected by me. Thanks for supporting those companies that keep Delightfully Tacky alive and kicking!

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