Another week is coming to an end and the weekend is coming up fast. It’s just not any weekend because Christmas is right around corner. Today is the 9th! The 9th! Where has this month gone? I don’t mean to brag, but I got most of my shopping done. I shopped local and online and managed to avoid the mall. I think I have two more gifts to get and then it’s onto wrapping. I am a little stumped about one of the gifts I still need to purchase, I’m not sure what to get one of my friends. I’m hoping that inspiration will spark over the weekend. While I won’t be gift shopping, I’ll be running errands.
For my Friday Fave today I’m all about casual comfort while out and about. I love this outfit for running errands, meeting up with friends for a casual lunch or attending one of the many holiday events around town.
There are days that are just meant to be soup days. You know the kind of days I’m talking about. Rainy, dreary, chilly or snowy and bone-chilling cold. The Sunday that I made my first big pot of this soup for the season wasn’t snowy or bone-chilling, just rainy and dreary with a gray sky. A perfect soup day. And what was the soup of the day you ask? Roasted Butternut Squash soup.
This soup says to me “Autumn” like no other soup but on a cold, wintry day it’s just as comforting. I love curling up, yep, this is that kind of meal, with a big bowl on the sofa while the changing leaves whirl around outside as the day slips into cool darkness. But before I can do that I need to make the soup. Some people opt not to make this soup because lets face it, a butternut squash can be a beast to work with. It’s awkward shape an thickness can lead to mishaps with a knife and since we don’t want that to happen it’s easier just to buy a can a soup at the store or pick-up a to-go container at a local restaurant. Since I love a challenge I’ve taken the butternut squash head on for several years, peeling and chopping and roasting until a light bulb went off over my head (seriously, I swear that happened) and the word “duh” escaped my lips. I don’t peel or chop or risk digits to make my beloved soup. I now simply cut the squash lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Now, when I cut the squash in half it still is a little difficult to hold straight, it tends to want to roll a little so I simply slice off a small sliver of the squash on one side of the bottom (where it’s wider) so that the squash lays flat against the surface of my carving board and then I work my knife through it to slice in half. Once I have two halves I then sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle olive oil over both halves.
All right, enough with talking, lets get onto the recipe.
Oh, one more thing before we get to the recipe. I’ve used an immersion blender in the past to puree this soup and it’s worked fine. But this time around I used my Vitamix blender and I was left with the creamiest, silkiest soup I’ve ever made. In the recipe I refer to the immersion blender but if you have a blender that will handle a big batch of hot soup then go for it.
Okay, now the recipe.
Enjoy!
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Author: Debra Sennefelder
Ingredients
1 butternut squash, halved
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 baking potato, peeled and chopped
1 McIntosh apple, peeled and chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
3 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 quart chicken broth
1/2 – 1 cup milk
salt and pepper to season
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Rub both halves of the butternut squash with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper over both halves. Roast for one hour or until tender.
In a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, toss the onion, potato and garlic with olive oil to coat; season with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, add the apples and continue to bake until tender. Transfer vegetables and apples and any juices to a large soup pot, add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and using an immersion blender, puree until smooth. Add milk to get desired thickness, season with salt and pepper.
And that leads me into the question of the day – what are you working on at the moment? I have a full cup of coffee so lets start chatting.
I am currently working on the second book in my cozy mystery series. Since it’s a work-in-progress I can’t say too much about it. I can tell you that I’m about 30,000 words in. I did get stuck a few times because I had to stop writing book 2 in order to edit book 1 so I could get it back to my agent. Once I turned book 1 back in to my agent I dove back into book 2 only to be pulled out of it because book 1 came back for a final proofread before sending it out to editors. When I was able to settle back into book 2 I was a little disconnected from it and it took me several days to get back into the groove. I found my groove when I wrote a scene that wasn’t in my outline (yes, I outlined this book and it’s broken down by chapters and scenes). I fell in love with the scene, I fell in love with my amateur sleuth again and I was excited to continue writing the book.
I’m also brainstorming another series. Since I’m committed to writing book 2 in my series I can’t take much time away from it because I want to finish the first draft in a few weeks and I don’t want to have to go through the whole settling back into the book that I’ve struggled with over the past few months. So I’m just jotting down notes for the other series as they come to me.
I’m also working on a hat. On the heels of the success of my nephew’s baby blanket I’ve decided to knit a hat for myself. To be honest, the blanket was much easier than this stupid hat but I’m determined to finish it and wear the hat one day very soon.
I’m going to finish my coffee now and I’d love to know what you’re working on at the moment. If you don’t have a question, don’t be shy – say “hi” in the comments section!
Happy Saturday! December is finally here and that means Christmas is just weeks away. Is it starting to feel like Christmas where you are? It’s finally getting a little chilly here in Connecticut and we have a snow shower (nothing big) coming Monday morning. Yep, it’s starting to feel like Christmas here. Besides the cold and the snow, you know what else gets me into the Christmas spirit? Christmas cards!
For the past few years I’ve been sending out photo Christmas cards featuring the pups. One of the funnest (is that a word? Not sure) parts of making the Christmas card is the photo shoot and the silly outtakes that won’t be used for the card. Wrangling two pups with short attention spans is hilarious.
This year the pups have donned matching scarves (their Christmas gift last year from my sister-in-law). I love the shot of Billy sticking his tongue out. They move so fast, one minute their looking right at me and it’s the perfect photo and the next moment they’re distracted by something and they’re perched to jump off of the sofa.
Last year I found the most adorable faux fur shrug at TJ Maxx for Susie (I know, but I couldn’t resist) and I knew she had to wear it for her Christmas photo. Luckily the day of her grooming appointment Teresa put the most beautiful bow in Susie’s hair and it was perfect with the shrug. She did look like a Shih-Tzu princess.
Wow! What a big mouth the little guy has. He definitely lived up to his nickname of Silly Billy. What an adorable goof ball.
My Christmas cards are on their way and should be here within a couple of days. What kind of cards to you send? Photo cards? Traditional cards? Handmade cards?
