Saturday Night Tapas and Dark and Stormies

By Raus

If there is one thing that Emsu and I enjoy more than anything, it is eating out. Though the food is of course important, the experience relies on so much more. Both mine and Emsu's favorite restaurant experience was during a trip to Brighton in England (my home away from home). After wandering the streets for a good hour looking for somewhere to eat (I'm fussy), we came across Solera, a tapas restaurant run by a family originally from Spain.

With the company of my best friend and former flat mate, the three of us proceeded to have perhaps the most amazing culinary experience of our lives (it sounds over the top, but trust me it was awesome). 

While the staff was friendly, the food awesome, and the red wine flowing, it's the nature of tapas I love so much. The opportunity to try little dishes of food, eaten slowly through laughs and conversation, makes a tapas place my go to for a great night out. Even bad tapas places (we have been to a few) are normally still good experiences. 

So well done Spain, you invented the perfect eating experience!

So on to our Saturday night. With a fridge full of little bits of leftovers, I set about preparing a few dishes, while Emsu made us some Dark and Stormies. 

It doesn't really matter what you're making, or whether it has a spanish flare, but four or five dishes, some drinks, the woman you love, and good conversation (we were wrapped up in a conspiracy theory debate and bad journalism), can make for a beautiful date night. 

Sweet and Cinnamony Acorn Squash

Cuddly sweaters. Crisp air. Cinnamon. Baked things. Fall is several weeks away, but we can still invoke its spirit by filling the kitchen with the scent of sweet, buttery, cinnamony (sp?) baked acorn squash!

Baha!

This recipe is simple, fun, and tastes really REALLY good. When served to Raus for the first time, he patted my head and said, "Well done baby." Although the gesture was patronizing, I knew it meant he genuinely liked this dish, and I was happy.

You will need:

1 acorn squash

2 spoonfuls of butter

2 spoonfuls of brown sugar

2 spoonfuls of honey

5 shakes of cinnamon

1/4 of vanilla

Dash of salt

Dash of pepper

Handful of almonds

Time: ~1 hour

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit (~200 degrees celsius). Cut your lovely little acorn squash in half and scoop out all the seeds with a spoon.

In a small bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. The measurements are approximate and adjustable. Careful when you taste test the butter mixture - I wanted to eat the whole thing.

Our cute little salt shaker :)

Take a brush and slather the mixture all up in the bowls of your squash halves and all around the top. It'll seem like a lot, but you'll want to use all of it. Wrap a cookie sheet in foil, place the halves on top, and pop them in the oven for about 1 hour.

They should come out looking like so! I put mine in bowls to lessen the mess + maximize the enjoyment of eating them.

Chop up your almonds, sprinkle them on top of your acorn squash, and they're ready to be eaten!

This is great as a side with your dinner or as a dessert/treat. Enjoy!