What's new?

For any of you that are curious, here's what's floating around in my brain and my life.

• I had a halfway decent, halfway epically fail job interview last Monday. The last part of it was a computer exercise, and I sat down and my brain turned into a bowl of ice cream that's been sitting in the July sun
• I thusly realized how much I miss and need a computer of my own so that I can practice and keep fresh on all this damn technology.
• My birthday is coming up next week (wink wink) and I want to invite friends out to dinner, but I can't figure out where. Looking for a restaurant that's not too swanky but nice enough, group friendly, yummy, close to bars and such for post dinner birthday celebration continuum. Any ideas?
• I'm planning on participating in the Food Obstructions II and super excited about the ideas I have for this time around. Moroccan spiced winter squash soup with baco-bits style merguez and something else to either dip or mix in. (Any suggestions?)
• I've been on a cookbook kick. Not necessarily buying the all-time best books, but they're great sources of inspiration if nothing else.

Another [picture-less] Recipe

Is winter squash soup an original idea? Hell no. Is it delicious? Why yes, yes it is. And perfect for winter. What I made was butternut squash Thai red curry soup, which was so, so, so delicious. But the fantasmic thing about this recipe is that it's versatile beyond belief:

It can be made from any winter squash (butternut, acorn, many other varietals, even pumpkin)
It can be made with any type of curry (Indian varietys, Thai red, green, etc.)
The root vegetables options are endless and, well, totally optional!

Crrrazy for Casseroles!

So, I'm sort of back... [My brother] Omar has a computer now, so I'm now bumming off of his computer, which makes for generally shitty times all around, really. But, I have a little quiet time around here and a special request from a cooking competition and Twitter buddy. Another awesome Emily asked me if a recipe of mine was available online. So here I am.

What of casseroles, say you? Well, in mid-October, right before my lovely computer went kaput, I cooked for two different competitions, the Food Obstructions and the Casserole Crazy Party. Both were equally fun and interesting, with different vibes at both. [I do plan on posting my FO creation, but I think one recipe for tonight.] But, they ended up being three days apart from each other! Casseroles are a stretch for me, actually, but I signed up on a whim. So, after I recovered from Food Obstructions, it was time to put on my casserole thinking cap.

Casseroles are a tricky animal... I'm not really a cream of blahblahblah soup person, but I felt like going a bit trashy, unhealthy, and fun are necessary for this kind of shindig. So, my brain came up with this hybrid frito pie-chili cornbread casserole thing. Because it was a cheesy, fun, heart and stomach warming guilty pleasure type of casserole, I deemed it The Full House. Also known as 1990s' cheesiest sitcom.