I was gonna suggest that you start incorporating seasoning with a pronounced flavor (like pumpkin pie spices) then it occurred to me that those are probably "off list."
If not, then the flavor of the spices will overwhelm any change in squashiness.

Also, do you bake or boil the squash? Caramelization adds a lot to the flavor profile and esp. with butternut which has a lot of sugar. If you do, be sure to caramelize the zucchini and add some sort of sugar (a tiny amount) just to give the zucchini a chance to develop those Maillard reaction flavors.

Or not. Probably not.

:weather:

I'm glad you're feeling better Bri. Missed you.

I know how it is having an unwanted presence in your home, and the horrible stress it causes.

Cheer up girl! You're loved. :)

I know how it WAS, having an unwanted presence in your home, and I know the stress it causes. How it clouds everything. How you feel sick to your stomach either knowing they're there, or wondering when they will be there and how they will act. I know the resignation one feels when one decides to just stay in one's room, to just avoid it all. I know the relief when it's finally over. I know the almost post-traumatic stress as you hear a car door and think they're still coming back. I know how it feels to have your custom jewelry stolen out from under you. I know how it feels to feel like an intruder in your own home. I know how it feels to try to hide food and beverages and all the things you pay for because otherwise you'll never get any of it. I know what it's like to be treated like a piece of shit by the pseudo-intruder in your home. I know what it's like to hear about smack talk from said intruder around town when all you've done is try to help the best you can. I know...

Never mind what I know. I'm just relieved for you, dear.

:)

I just microwave it a bit before blending, because it makes it puree smoother and also gets it out of its bulk frozen state.

Good news is, she totally took it like a champ. Didn't even notice the half-and-half blend, and when I gave her a blend fully substituted with zucchini she stared at it in bewilderment for a moment, then went back to drinking. So now I'm just excited to see what sort of allergy relief she'll finally get to see in the next few days.

Ducks, you should post a picture of the boy's gash. Are you already out from school for the holiday break? If it heals too much before he sees his friends again, maybe he'll want to take the picture to show them so he gets full badass credit. :)

So glad to hear the situation's improving, Bri. Christmas miracles all around!

That echoes some of how I felt sharing a house.
The other girls thought it was so funny that I hid away in my room.
Ha ha ha.

Bitches.

Oh, and wondering if they would be really drunk when they came home and use their 100 pound weight advantage added to gender advantage to beat the shit out of me in my own home.

Hence the graves in the basement

Okay. That's rough.

All I had to wonder about was whether they would come home coked-up and clop upstairs in their heels sounding like Ragnarok, then proceed to have noisy sex (aka fake orgasms) at 04.00 when I had to leave for work at 07.30.

I've met people who have tried to casually use earplugs and given up.
I was committed. I broke through the oddness of being surrounded by sounds of my own body and disconnected from the world.
Even on my own I feel safer sleeping in them now.

You remember the Homeless Guy?

It got really bad before he finally left. He didn't hit me, but he got in my face a few times (again, in my own house) and was a real asshole and I was so miserable I didn't know what to do. How mean of me, to let him live there after his house burnt down, rent-free.

So after I finally got up enough guts to contact my attorney (though HG never hit me, he scared the crap out of me, very unstable character there at the end) to start eviction proceedings he left the state with the wife of the guy who ran the bar he hung out in. He got his sugar mama. She's his problem now, thank gawd.

And I've not been able to find all my jewelry (a lot of expensive custom pieces from my marriage...ex's best friend a very artistic jeweler) but I could have hidden it from HIM and forgot where I hid it, but no luck so far.

Sorry, don't know why this poured out now, after all this time. I forget sometimes how much that affected me.

This is your parents you're talking about?

Infi, I found a lot of my issues with my Mum come out on here - and they just come out when and where they do.
I always thought you should kick the bastard in the balls, but I had no idea of the dynamic of your relationship. Thank FSM he absconded. POS.

Nah, HLJ - Dad would like to but Mum isn't interested.
She was, once. Well, three times by the evidence!

And she asked me to buy her a vibrator.
I did.

Fast-forward eight years and I hear her laughing on the phone that she once asked me to buy her one but I got one so fancy she was scared to use it.
It was a Rabbit.
I don't know whether it was her spinning a story for a friend, or the truth. Smacks of the truth to me.
Sad. It came with fucking instructions! [deliberate]

:)

Thanks Sundae. That made me grin.

Caught her lying again today.
No wonder I grew up with a casual regard for the truth.
She didn't realise I heard her on the phone last night, cancelling plans with the daughter of a friend because apparently Dad had such a heavy cold. I thought it odd at the time - he sounded fine to me.

Then this morning she said that they weren't going out today because N had cancelled.
Adding, "You know what she's like!" for verisimilitude.
Hmmmm.

ETA - and far more important.
Diz is all wheezy and huffy again and it terrifies me.
Something he's eaten has gone down or up the wrong way.
This happened a couple of months ago, but I had to go to school so wasn't around to worry about it.

It can only be beebles, so I am assuming it will break down and not be a problem - unlike when he had the chunk of gristle stuck; that was obstructing his airflow, as opposed to just making him cough and sneeze.

Still hate it though - there is nothing I can do :(

Also, went down to the Spar to the cashpoint - it was stuck on "Please remove your card".
I didn't dare force my card in there right before Glasgow!
So I went inside to queue up at the counter behind all the people sending Christmas parcels.
10 minutes later (at least quicker than the main Post Office in town) I walk out past the cashpoint to see it is on the correct Welcome screen. D'oh.

And the traffic was really heavy on the Elmhurst Road, so I walked up on the unsunny side, aiming to cross at the top.
I didn't even see the ptach of ice I slipped on.
Whoosh, my front foot just shot out and I was down on my bum before I knew what was happening.
It was surprisingly painless, although I barked my hand a little.
A young Asian woman with her toddler son rushed to my rescue. She was approx 5'4" and about a third of my weight. Bless her - I think I nearly broke her getting up.

So there you go.
Nothing like Clod's saga, but enough to make me grumpy and sad.