October 2 Dinner for Four Five

Tonight's dinner for four was actually dinner for five, which was awesome because the cake I wanted to test drive was plenty big. Everyone said they liked dinner, and I was happy to feed them. Really, though, I feed them only because them I want them to try dessert, then bring home the leftover dessert so it isn't in my house anymore.

I made the ratatouille the night before because I think it tastes better on the second day. it's quick to make, but it saved time.
ratatouille

Lookit my squash! For some reason, they make me wish I could juggle. I chose the one on the left for dinner.
squash

I sliced it up and made butternut squash fries, which taste just like sweet potato fries. Especially when you have them with ketchup, as I did.
butternut fries

I made spinach and ricotta cheese gnocchi. I dusted them in flour so I could shape them more easily. I also have this idea, possibly farfetched, that it helps keep things together in the boiling water while they loll around for a few minutes.
spinach ricotta gnocchi in the making

I served the gnocchi with brown butter and crisped sage ... the second batch of browned butter and crisped sage, since the first batch turned into blackened butter and burnt sage. I opted to remake the quick sauce; I'm not that avant garde.
spinach ricotta gnocchi

The naked cake: gingerbread and pumpkin pie cheesecake filling. It's basically an upright trifle, or just a two-layer cake with a woo-hoo lotta filling.
pumpkin pie cheesecakecake

The cake in costume (dressed as a cube of whipped cream).
pumpkin pie cheesecakecake

The cake on stage. Ta-da! Nothing fancy, but enough for my guests to get the idea. The five of us didn't eat the entire cake; I sent the last two pieces home with two of my friends.
pumpkin pie cheesecake ... cake ... with whipped cream

Scraped clean! I call that a success. =)
scraped clean

Post-cleanup trifle--dessert by desktop.
leftovers trifle

There are other desserts I want to try out. I think I'll have a Screw Yer Diet party, but I'll make sure it won't coincide with Mario's 4th Annual Curry and Ice Cream Social on the 20th. Woot! Good times in October!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Thanks for visiting my blog...
Cinnamon butterfly, huh? LOL!
The cake looks incredible. In fact so far everything I have read here sounds fabulous!
Mike Marsh said…
Oooo -- butter sage sauce is one of my favorites.
Belinda said…
Your cake looks soooo good! No wonder you friends packed up what was left of it and took it home with them! Your whole dinner looks like it was a hit, and butternut squash fries sound wonderful! I would not have thought of that, so I'm glad you did...now I can file that idea away for myself! :-)
Simona Carini said…
That was some dinner! Everything looks great, especially the cake.
Julie said…
Thank you for the words, all!

Mike, I think we've had more than one conversation about butter sage sauce. I agree--it's amazing, and few things smell as wonderful!
BC said…
I love sage and butter. I make a sage pesto that my family just loves.

I think my children would love the squash fries too!
Julie said…
BC, the fries are awesome--they taste just like sweet potato fries! Just preheat the oven to 425; spray up a baking sheet; peel, seed, and slice the squash; salt and season it; and bake til crispy--about 40 to 45 minutes. It's a good option to french fries.

Popular Posts