English Ketchup and Butternut Squash Pasta Salad

 Too soon for another food post- but it's that time anyway. May as well start myself a food blog. I guess I have just been cooking and shopping so much more than usual. I think mostly because it's winter (the roads are red today) ..and it's cold. So it's the perfect weather to get in the kitchen. 

So this is what I made this past week. 

English Ketchup

Who knew there were recipes for ketchup? It never really crossed my mind as something to make until the Unofficial Harry Potter cookbook showed me the way. It's actually really easy and while it was bubbling away on the stove it really smelled like ketchup.  And it has quite a few spices but I couldn't detect them much in the finished product. I halved the recipe thinking I would just make a little bit and I truly made a little bit. It was very concentrated tho. To go with it I made my first batch of homemade fries that I had to triple fry to get them to crisp and brown up. But they were amazing! If they weren't so terrible for you, I would be making them again this weekend. To go with it, I made hot wings- baked. I made them with Louisiana Hot Sauce. I've been buying a different hot sauce anytime I need some and testing them on wings- I loved these. They weren't spicy but they had really great flavor.  I probably could have plated it better but I was cooking and eating as I went.

Next up, Butternut Squash Pasta Salad. This came out so good but you really have to taste and add or else you can end up with something bland. I roasted the squash in the oven because that's how I prefer to cook it. I used Pecorino Romano cheese instead of Parmesan because I needed it for something else and it's my favorite cheese discovery this year. I added a lot more than stated in the recipe. I also added a lot more sage, salt, and pepper than stated as well and kept adding and tasting until it tasted good. And it's probably one of my fave pasta dishes I have made in a long time. I don't know that the dried cranberries really add anything but it sounds fancy. Served with Salmon. I didn't half the recipe like usual and it made a ton so I will probably be eating it for dinner for the next few days which I am not mad at. 

And that's all for this week!