Maybe it’s the cold weather, but I’ve really been craving foods that are spicy, savory, and full of carbs. I guess it’s my body’s way of telling me that I need to build up my “winter coat” . . .

I’ve had this recipe by Kevin at Closet Cooking bookmarked for a long time, and as I had a lonely butternut squash (I love how winter squash seems to keep forever) and one can of coconut milk left in the pantry, I decided to try it out.

I wasn’t disappointed; spicy from the chile paste, tart from the lime juice and tempered by the sweet creaminess of the squash simmered in the coconut milk, this nourishing dish really satisfied my spicy-carbalicious cravings.

Here’s the recipe, with my changes annotated.

If you get a chance, stop by Kevin’s blog and check it out; he updates often with all sorts of interesting recipes from all sorts of cuisines!

I’ve been horribly lax in my postings here (last post was about Halloween cookies!), but I’ve had good reasons. In an effort to alleviate some health problems I’ve had since my university days, I’ve been seeing an acupuncturist. Along with the acupuncture treatments, my doctor had me changing my diet from week to week in order to try to pinpoint some food allergies (at one point I was only allowed to eat potatoes, white rice, cauliflower, cabbage and chicken broth and drink water for a week).

I guess all the diet changing put my body at a weak point and I ended up developing shingles the week before Thanksgiving. I could barely move my left side and was infected with a horrible rash and stabbing pains in my muscles for a couple of days. After an emergency run to the doctor’s office on Thanksgiving morning, a doctor was able to diagnose it and prescribe some medication. Thankfully, I caught it at an early stage and I’m slowly on the mend.

My appetite has been kind of poor lately, which is a bit depressing (I’ve been reading food blogs and there are so many holiday recipes I’d love to try), but I was able to make this super-easy coconut taro ice cream recipe for guests on Thanksgiving. Combining full-fat coconut milk (the good stuff), sweetened condensed milk, and prepared sweetened taro chunks, this ice cream combines two of my favorite asian-inspired flavors, coconut and taro. It was really well-received and when asked how I made it, I felt almost guilty about claiming I came up with this recipe . . . it was just a lucky result of throwing a couple of languishing cans I had in the pantry together.

Easy!