Butter, sweat and tears

I don't know if you missed this week's hot NYT's article on Butter. The gist of it is, "Your holiday baking turns out terrible every year because you're a moron. And you might as well kill yourself if you don't start using butter correctly." Unlike one source, I can't say my cookies have ever turned out so poorly it made me cry. Making cookies would only make me cry if they came to life and then fought a bloody civil war against each other until they were all dead. But I did learn from the Times that butter is full of "secrets," not unlike a woman's heart. I also learned that once you melt it, you've basically rendered it worthless as an ingredient. This faux pas I've committed!

Everything you always wanted to know about butternut squash risotto but were too afraid to ask

Until I waited tables in a fancy-ish restaurant, I wouldn't have known the difference between risotto and the hunchback of Notre Dame. But now I embrace the creamy, ambiguous side dish. I recently tried this recipe via Wolfgang Puck via the Food Network. I know it says "pumpkin" risotto but the ingredients call for butternut squash, so that's what I went with, because why quibble over bulbous fruits of the earth?

It was timely to hack apart the squash and dispose of its unborn children. But the resulting baked and pureed squash rivals mashed potatoes in deliciousness and mashed-up-ness. I was tempted to eat it alone without adding it to its betrothed Italian Arborio rice.

It is possible, unfortunately, to use too much Parmesan cheese (Once you start grating a cheese mountain it's really hard to stop).

If you want to make a big batch and have it for several days, I recommend storing it in a French Cathedral.