Alarmingly Delicious

The sunrises earlier this week have been astoundingly beautiful.  These next 5 images are all from the same sunrise.  I didn't adjust the color, just the exposure time over the 15 minute time span during which the shots were taken.  As usual, I was standing at the end of the dock to get these shots.  The sea was wonderfully calm.  Are those rain clouds on the horizon? Cue rain music here.

Pink and blue sky.

The gold and oranges build as the sun gets a smidge higher. And what name can you give to that fleeting color glowing in the heart?

Fickle clouds promise rain. 

The drama lingers.

Geese fleeing winter fly south against a Van Gogh sky.

That was the morning of October 12; we got no rain that day.  Dawn clouds on the 13th are more promising.

Rain clouds?

But they don't deliver rain either, not that day.  A bit of rain on the 14th, and then boy did we get rain - 3.2 inches yesterday and 3.5 inches today.  So far.  There are still heavy dark clouds out there.  Such a storm last night; waves pounding, wind howling, rain pouring.  The dock took a beating and 4 boards at the end broke loose.  The breakwater worked a treat, though.  Whew.  I watched as it persuaded wave after wave to crest and break before reaching shore.  I say persuade because you can't force water to do anything it doesn't want to do.  Water will always win, the only thing one can do is play on the water team and follow the water rules.  Under current conditions, the water is breaking on the breakwater and sand is accumulating on the shore.  We shall see if the rules change as the seasons change and adapt ourselves accordingly.

All that rain cooled things off and we have been at near 100% humidity for 3 days now. Even though Tina can't stand the rain, we are happy to get our vats filled up again.  Still, we are feeling a little green and fuzzy from the humidity, just the time for baking and roasting, so a'baking and a'roasting I have been.  Baking the double batch of shortcakes yesterday dried the cabana out nicely, so I thought I should use the oven more today.  I made an alarmingly delicious dish of roasted butternut squash and onions.  It was so very simple.

• 2 butternut squash peeled and cubed
• 5 small Mexican yellow onions, cut in radial 8ths (I know it is odd, but that is how I like them; you can cut them any way you want.  The Mexican yellow onions are so very sweet, not quite Vidalia onions, but very nice.)
• 2 thumbs of local, fresh ginger, peeled and finely minced - the local ginger, which grows in the Maya Mountains, is a mild, yellow ginger.  If your ginger is hotter, you may want to use less.
• 1/2 a bulb of garlic, smashed and minced - all we can find here is the Chinese garlic, sigh ...
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• salt
• black pepper coarsely ground
• ~1/4 c olive oil
• SECRET INGREDIENT FOR ALARM AND DELICIOUSNESS - Marie Sharp's Smoked Habanero Sauce - scant tablespoon or less if you aren't a fan of habanero heat.  Read about Marie and her hot sauce company here.  Her newest sauce, the Smoked Habanero I used here, is not on her website yet.

Throw all that together in a roasting pan, stir it up well, and put it in a 350F oven for 60 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes.  The sweetness of the carmelized butternut and onions is set off perfectly by the smoked habanero flavor.  The ginger and coriander keep things light on the tongue.

Alarmingly Delicious.

Need I say more?