This Week's Blog Post

Striped Agate Necklace
This huge teardrop is striped agate. It is black with blueish grey stripes. The strand is made up of onyx and manmade hemalyke.

So simple and beautiful! Available at Miss Val’s Creations.

Stuffed Butternut Squash

Jim and I made stuffed butternut squash. We baked 2 pre-cut and de-skinned butternut squash halves at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

At the same time we cooked the following diced vegetables in the oven:

• 1 zucchini
• 1 summer squash
• 3 parsnips (but agreed would have been better with turnips or carrots)
• 1 package of pre-sliced mushrooms

We seasoned these veggies with curry, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. The veggies were done before the squash so we left that in a little longer.

We cooked 1 cup of quinoa and seasoned it with orange zest, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, salt, pepper, spring onions and maple syrup to taste.

Once everything was cooked we put the quinoa in the squash cavities.

Then poured the veggies over it. I also had some leftover breadcrumbs in the freezer which we put on top (amazingly delicious addition). Then put it back in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes so it is all hot and ready to eat! 

Not only is this delicious and filling, it is also vegan and gluten free so anyone can enjoy it! This was inspired by a local chef if you would like to see his video tutorial.

Around Town Part I

I live in a city called Methuen (I call it a town since it feels more town like to me). While it is not a picturesque town, it does have some amazing historical buildings which I have decided to check out. So over the next several weeks I will be showing some beautiful bits!

Starting off with Town Hall.

I remember going here when I moved to the town for my business certificate and thought “how grand is this?”

It was built in 1904 as the high school and later used as the town hall. Architecture has become so bland in recent years. New schools look nothing like this!

Thank you for stopping by! It sounds like Hurricane Sandy will be affecting my area at the beginning of the week. It has been such a devastating storm in the Carribean! 

My fear is always losing power. A couple of weeks after moving into my house 4 years ago in November we had a wicked ice storm and my neighborhood (as well as all the surrounding neighborhoods) were without power for 3 days. Not fun, especially when I was trying to settle into my new home and had to stay at my parents house for those days (not to mention worrying about pipes freezing)!!! Mother Nature really loves having her evil fun.

Last year Trick or Treating was rescheduled due to a massive snowstorm at the time. It may be rescheduled again this year! Happy Halloween everyone!~Val