Last Thursday was a busy day for me in the kitchen.

Morgan and her BF visited us this weekend to celebrate her birthday, so I wanted to make her a cookie cake so that we could sing. I put the dough together on Thursday morning, with plans to bake it on Friday. Refrigerating the dough always results in better cookies, let alone a CAKE.

Then of course she showed up with her own cookie cake from Wegmans. Luckily that one got polished off pretty quickly and I made mine on Saturday and stole the show! I highly recommend it- I used this recipe and then forgot to take photos. Just trust me on this one.

I also made banana bread with some brown bananas on the counter, thinking that it might be a solid breakfast base prior to the Fells Point Fun Festival AKA Fells Fest AKA All-Day Drinking Affair on Saturday.

Then I tried to focus on dinner.

With two ziplock bags, I had a dinner prepped in the fridge for me to cook off quickly when I got home later that night. First, some deliciously moist (sorry about the word selection but it’s true) chicken and some roasted butternut squash.

Aaron gave me two butternut squashes, so my intention was to make baked butternut squash “fries” with the first one.  It didn’t quite happen. Still delicious, but not so successful with the crispy-on-the-outside thing. I used the second one for butternut squash pasta last night.

1 medium butternut squash, chopped or cut into wedges

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp paprika

Shake it around in a big bag and let them sit for a while. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes. I put a little fleur de sel on top. You could also sprinkle some crushed red pepper or parmesan cheese on top and it would be additionally delicious. I wish I had thought of this earlier.

Next, the chicken.

3-4 chicken breasts, sliced thinly

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 tbs spicy mustard

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp poultry seasoning

salt & pepper

Mix the mayo, mustard, and seasonings and toss with the chicken until completely coated.

Sear on both sides in a skillet and then finish cooking at medium-low heat, covered.

So easy I’m not sure it even counts as a recipe, but it made for an excellent dinner.

Oh and the GS contributed bread, brie, and beer. Now that’s balance.