I like to cook. I like to go out and eat, too. Sometimes it’s a hard life, trying to decide which to do. Actually, strike that, I always choose to go out if I have the chance. But I do like to cook, and most of the time I make tasty things.

This meal, I think I made it Wednesday, tasted great, even though the picture would say otherwise:

It tasted much better than it looks, honest!

For someone looking to get into photography, I sure do a poor job of it sometimes! Anyway, I was just trying to document the meal for a Facebook group called “What Cha Eatin?“, but I never did end up posting the pic. Instead, I’m showing off my terrible food photography (hey, I took it on our standard dinner plate, in a kitchen with overhead fluorescent lighting…) here, so you can marvel in… well at least the tastiness of the dinner anyway.

Here’s what I did:

Stuffed Squash Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 large red onion
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 tbsp curry powder
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 Cups shredded white cheddar cheese
1 large delicata squash, halved lengthwise and seeds scooped out (the ingredients could easily make 2 squashes, so if you need to feed 4 people, use 2 delicatas, both halved and scooped).

Instructions -

1) Preheat oven to 370F. 2) Brown your ground beef over medium heat in a large skillet. Chop half a red onion and add it to the skillet, seasoning with about 2 tsp black pepper. Add the coriander and curry powder, stir, and cook until onion is soft.

3) Meanwhile, after squash(es) is/are cut in half and the seeds are scooped, brush the insides and outsides with a good quantity of olive oil and set, sliced edge down, in a baking pan or lipped cookie sheet. Place in oven for 20 – 25 minutes, or until squash is tender to a poke with a fork. Remove from oven and set aside.

4) Add cream of mushroom soup to beef mixture and stir in well. When squash comes out of the oven, turn them carefully over with tongs, being careful not to crush or split them. Fill the squash with a good amount of beef mixture, and top with a generous amount of shredded cheese.

5) Place filled squash back in the oven for 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted and gooey.

6) Enjoy! (serves 2 – 4)

On the side I microwaved a halved sweet potato using my microwave’s potato preset function (thank the gods for this, I could never wait 45 minutes for a simple baked potato) – remember to wrap potatoes in plastic cling wrap and poke a few times with a fork before placing in the microwave oven. I cut the potatoes open when serving and put some of the extra cheddar cheese inside to melt.

Also, my sister-in-law gave me some “bamboo rice” for Christmas, and I thought this meal needed a touch of green, so I made that up in my rice cooker. It came out nice and fluffy and I liked the subtle flavor of it. I saw a listing for some bamboo rice on Amazon but if you can find it at a local shop or farmer’s market, all the better.

Anyway, it was quite tasty, and very seasonal. Also, it was warm and aromatic, so it was great for a chilly evening. I enjoyed experimenting with the foods, too, which is half of what I love about cooking it. The other half is eating!

So, what did we learn from all of this?

Don’t take crappy food pictures when you’re trying to be a professional photographer. And if you do, you probably shouldn’t put them up on your blog for the world to see!

Oh well, I’ll do better next time.