This recipe actually came about at my sister's request! She was visiting home and telling me about this dish she makes at college: lasagna with butternut squash. When I at first heard that, I was so skeptical -- after all, it seems like something that would get you in trouble with the Italians. But she likes it a lot, so I figured that I would give it a try. After hearing about how she makes it, though...I figured I could improve on it a bit.

Steamed eggs, or what I called 炖蛋 growing up, has always been one of my comfort foods. My grandma used to make it for me when I was sick, and it was one of the first things I learned how to cook. It's also so simple -- it's just a savory, super simple steamed egg dish. It's technically an egg custard, but that sounds scary, and this isn't complicated or scary at all. If you've ever heard of the Japanese dish chawanmushi or the Korean dish gyeran-jjim, this is in a similar vein. It's lowkey, homey, and comforting, and as a bonus you're practically guaranteed to have the ingredients you need to make it at home.

This is a great appetizer that looks fancy, tastes amazing, and is actually very simple to make! It's a riff on Baked Brie, which is a common holiday appetizer, but redesigned to be in the form of shareable pastries.