Garlic Butter Carving Pumpkin Innards

  

My buddy and I carved a pumpkin for her daughter.  While gutting it, I noticed the innards looked like spaghetti squash.  So I decided to save them and try to cook it as a side dish.  Long story short, it was not delicious.  Butter garlic flavor is not enough.  It needs a stronger flavor combo as it's pretty tasteless and doesn't even take flavor on.  I think this experiment might be good with a thick, heavy sauce if you wanted a gluten-free option.

This recipe is not worth typing out, especially since it didn't turn out that great.  It's just butter, garlic, salt, and pumpkin innards. But you can watch me make it.

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Garlic Butter Carving Pumpkin Innards (sped up for IG)
YouTube post of this video: Garlic Butter Carving Pumpkin Innards (full video with captions)

Zoodle Carbonara Experiment

This was an experiment to use vegetables in place of pasta.  For that, I took a zucchini, cut the ends off  and ran it through a spiralizer.  I made a mistake with miscounting the egg yolks and used processed cheese instead of fresh.  It came out okay, but would've probably been better if I counted correctly and used freshly grated parmesan cheese.  I intend to try this again with those corrections.

Here is the link to the original recipe. https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/simple-carbonara

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Zoodle Carbonara Experiment (sped up for IG)
YouTube post of this video: Zoodle Carbonara Experiment (full video with captions)

Pinakbet (Filipino Vegetable Medley with Pork)

When I was younger, we'd have pinakbet for dinner from time to time.  The simplest way for me to describe pinakbet is a medley of vegetables and pork, simmered in a fish broth.

It always had bittermelon in the mix.  I felt like the bitterness always seeped through to the other vegetables. I hated bitter melon, so didn't like pinakbet. 

As I grew older, I became more open to new flavors and health benefits of various foods.  I learned that both the bitter melon leaves and fruit had health benefits for a variety of ailments.  I don't exactly know what the benefits are, but a quick internet search will return a lot of results.

I actually tried bitter melon tea and will eat a piece or two if it's already in the pinakbet.  But ultimately, it will never be my favorite.

Anyway, here is the recipe for my version.  I didn't add any bitter melon and it was delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 kabatiti (gourd), peeled and sliced
• 1 eggplant, cut into 3-inch segments
• 10 long beans, cut into 3-inch pieces
• 4 small tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup patis (fish sauce)
• 5 cloves roasted garlic
• 1/4 large onion, sliced
• 3 ounces chicharron, sliced

Instructions:

1. Prepare ingredients as indicated above (i.e. slice, cut, etc.)
2. Bring water and patis to a boil.
3. Add everything else, except the chicharron.
4. Cover and let simmer until vegetables cooked through (about 15 minutes), stirring halfway through.
5. Add chicharron.
6. Cover and let simmer to let the flavors mingle together (about 5 minutes), stirring halfway through.
7. Serve.

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Pinakbet