Being an eternal student, I’ve always felt — and still do — that the year starts in September. January is so random, so in the dead of winter. It doesn’t feel like the beginning of anything. Fall has promise, if only of crunchy leaves and perfectly clear days for wearing all your new scarves and sweaters.
As it is September, and not January, that feels like my “New Year,” I’ve also taken to making my resolutions in September. It seems like a much better time for starting over: you’re tanned and relaxed from the summer, you’ve just bought a new binder and dividers (if you’re me), and everything seems possible, if only for a moment.
This year, my resolution is to be more honest with myself.
This might have some of you scratching your heads, seeing as I’m known amongst the majority of my friends for being blunt, and sometimes brutally honest, for saying what I mean and usually meaning what I say. I’m honest with everyone else, but there was a point when I was equally honest with myself, and I have started to feel that slipping away.
I make promises to myself that I don’t keep, swear that I’ll do something important “soon,” but being so busy, it’s easy for “soon” to slip away to “later,” and “later to disappear entirely. I swear I’ll sit down and think a moment, take a break and really reflect on the direction my life is taking and whether that’s where I want to be, and yet it’s been forever since I just sat by myself and existed with my thoughts… one of my former favorite activities. Of all the people I have in my life to be honest with, I think I should be my top priority.
So I’m taking a stand. I’m done with pretending that things are hunky-dory when they’re not, and I’m done with putting off things that I find important. I’ve made a list of the things that I love to do — buy local at my morning market, hike in the country, dance around my apartment to country music, read back issues of Bon Appétit I’ve got stacked under my coffee table, grab a book (an old favorite, preferably) from my bookshelf, and spending the day getting lost in it. I’m taking back my own life from the chaotic schedule I’ve imposed on it, and what’s more, I’ve found that the more time I spend being honest with myself, the more productive I am at work… most of the time (hey, we’re being honest here).
In honor of this September revolution, I bring you fall food with a twist. At the aforementioned morning market, my favorite vendor exclaimed over the prevalence of strawberries, tomatoes and potimarron, or hokkaido squash. “I’ve never seen all three at once,” he mused… and so I bought all three.
Strawberries were eaten absently, the last of the summer, but the tomatoes and potimarron found their way onto the same plate. What grows together goes together, right? I never would have thought to pair the sweet squash with summer tomatoes, but the fact is, the sauce from the tomatoes was perfect when soaked up by the pastry.
I’ve made this twice already, once with phyllo dough and once with refrigerated pâte brisée. Both are delicious… I think I prefer the latter, but the Country Boy is so enamored by the former that I’m not allowed to give it another go. I’m OK with that… I think I’m happier when other people love my food, and I can watch them get excited about it.
Winter Squash Chausson
1/2 hokkaido squash (or other medium-sized winter squash)
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vegetable oil
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. raw sugar
1 cup white wine (OPTIONAL)
2 oz. soft goat cheese
1 pâte brisée OR 5 sheets refrigerated phyllo dough
1 tsp. olive oil
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Peel the squash and cut into slices. Toss with oil and salt. Roast in the oven until soft and golden brown, about 20 minutes. When cooked, remove from oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees F.
Meanwhile, prepare the onions. Heat the butter and oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat until melted. Add onions, salt and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned. Add small amounts of wine or water to deglaze the pan as needed. When the onions are deeply colored, remove from the heat.
Unroll the pastry in a greased baking dish (either a loaf pan or a small roasting pan with sides at least 1 inch tall). Arrange the squash over the bottom of the pastry. Scatter the onions and cheese over the top and fold the pastry to cover (with the pâte brisée, I made a full chausson. With the phyllo, I left an opening). Brush the top of the pastry with the remaining teaspoon of oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the top of the pastry is golden brown. Serve with tomato salad with fresh basil, olive oil and salt.
I always thought the Jews had it right — Rosh Hoshanna (the new year) is in September. Yummy looking recipe.
I can very much relate. Septemeber has always felt like the time for new beginnings for me as well. Loved this whole piece – very inciteful – and cannot wait to try the recipe!
Again, so many points to make. We need to hang out again, soon! I’ve made potimarron and caramelized onion pizzas before, very much in the same vein. Fantastic with goat cheese or, my favorite, a nice Savoyard cheese like Abondance or Beaufort. I’ve also learned by experimentation the affinity of winter (fall) squash and tomatoes. My favorite thing to do with spaghetti squash is to treat it literally as spaghetti – stir it up with a creamy tomato sauce. Heaven!
Awesome photos with informal sentences. Thank you for these.