Jumping in with both feet

So last night, I was enthusiastically scrolling through my Pinterest page looking for some recipes to try for The Experiment, and M was looking over my shoulder. He was not as enthusiastic, to put it lightly. As I looked at recipes with ingredients like mango chutney or spaghetti squash, I could overhear the soft mutterings of M: "oh boy" and "oh geez, what have I gotten myself into?" And then I found it. I found the one. And I knew he would not be pleased. And this pleased me greatly, because let's face it, I'm kind of mean in a loving way.

I knew tonight was going to be rough. But I also knew I had to pull this one out and just dive right in. Introducing Pinch of Yum's Butternut Mac and Cheese With Caramelized Onions, Bacon and Apple.

I was hoping to prepare this all and just set the dish in front of M, without him having any knowledge of the ingredients, but he is not one for surprises. He is persistent. It's slightly frustrating and when I'm cooking and rushing around, I just don't have time to fight it. So I tried to be coy: "It's a variation of mac and cheese." There. That was good. Nope. He was on to me. "Is this the one with butternut squash?" "Ummmm...." Yeah, I had no out. But I did not divulge the rest of the ingredients, hoping once again that he would evacuate the premises and let me get to work. No such luck.

So while I was trying to finish things up, I had to chop the apples. "There's APPLES in this? Oh man." This was not looking good. "I hope you know your ESL is going to be pretty low." Yes, yes I know, M.

Without further ado I present the Butternut Squash Mac And Cheese with Caramelized Onions, Bacon and Apple:

Why is this meal challenging to M?

Where do I begin?? 1) Butternut Squash. His hatred of squash is enough to make me stop right here. But oh no, it gets better. 2) Apples. Let me put this right out there. Other than the occasional banana, I cannot recall a time when M voluntarily ate a piece of fruit. It's freakish. Maybe if it was baked into a pie, but no, no regular fruit. 3) I messed with a comfort food. I took mac and cheese, a dish he usually loves, and I basically turned it upside down. M is not a fan of change, especially when I put stuff he doesn't like in it.

M's ESL I went between a 2 and a 3 on this one because I was kind of hoping the bacon would help pull the number up. But as I made the dish, I fell back to a 2. It was so squash-y. I knew it was going to be a challenge.

So before I even go on to his ASL, let me just say that I thought this dish was DELICIOUS!! And my daughter gobbled it up. She gave it a 10/10! I definitely will be making this again....

....but probably not for M.

M's Reaction and ASL

When I first asked M what the ASL was, he replied, "I'm not sure yet." Hmm. Interesting response. After a few more bites I got a "I'm not digging the apples." And then the gem: "If you could take all the other stuff out and leave the mac and cheese, it would be fine." HAHAHA, very typical M statement. However, his ASL? A 3.5! Higher than I expected, so I was a little happy about that. He did elaborate: "If I came home and you said this is what was for dinner, I'd eat it, but I wouldn't be happy about it." Ok then.

Once a month, M has a dinner meeting for some water-lovers club or something. I guess I'll be saving this dish for a mother-daughter night.