Funny story.

The first time I was introduced to spaghetti squash was in 1974.

I was working at a restaurant as a busboy. Sometimes, the chef would arrive drunk and continue to drink himself into an incoherent stupor.

Since we had become friends over the last few months, and he never exposed me as an underage runaway, I covered for him during those benders.

Cooking the customer's orders was easy for me. I had watched him so many times that I'd memorized the process and could replicate his dishes for almost all items on the menu.

On those nights, no one knew it was me cooking. It was for the best because a drunk chef is dangerous with sharp kitchen utensils and should be far, far away from hot stoves.

One time while I was subbing for the chef, an unusual order - one that I had never seen the chef cook - came in. It included a side dish of spaghetti squash. I was like, "What the Hell is spaghetti squash!?"

After a moment's panic, I rifled through the chef's recipes and found the one for the spaghetti squash. Damn, that chef should have been a doctor because his handwriting was almost illegible!

I guess my guardian angel was looking out for me that night - sort of.

After following the recipe as best I could, the dish came out perfectly.

In fact, the customer wanted to commend the chef; but I quickly handed out dessert menus and began refilling everyone's wine glasses. Luckily, he soon forgot about visiting the chef.

Whew, that was a close call!

Imagine that?

Namaste, JaiChai