The Real Food Diet Cookbook

I never win contests. Well, maybe not never, but rarely. Which is why I did backflips of joy (Hey, you weren't there. It could have happened) when I found out I'd won The Real Food Diet Cookbook just for entering a comment on a blog post from my new favorite food blogger, Heather Eats Almond Butter

I am a huge fan of cookbook porn. I love leafing through cookbooks, ear-marking pages for recipes I want to try, debating whether I have the skill level to carry off a soufflé (no, I don't) and reading a dessert recipe so I can call out to Blair that No wonder Americans are fat can you believe this recipe calls for 2 sticks butter and more than a cup of sugar?! 

I hope the addiction to recipe books is leading me somewhere. When I first decided to be a writer, I did little more than read books on HOW to be a writer for close to two years before I figured out that more active participation was required. Maybe one day I'll actually become the cook I am in my mind when I sigh over glossy pages of perfectly presented food. 

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Kabocha Squash

Kabocha Squash. Ever heard of it? I found a recipe for roasted Kabocha squash on my new favorite website, Heather Eats Almond Butter, and have been longing to try it. One problem: kabocha squash was nowhere to be found. I searched Earth Fare, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Fresh Market and even (I was desperate) Wal-mart. Nothing. 

I whined to Blair about not being able to find it. 

"That's because it doesn't exist," he said.

"What do you mean it doesn't exist?" I asked. "Of course it exists. There's a recipe for it."

"You vegetarians are so easy to con," he said.

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