Tag Archives: butternut squash soup

Thanks and Giving

Posted on November 7, 2012 | 7 comments

Much to do in the upcoming days. We hope to spend Thanksgiving with family about 1,500 miles away. I’ve got the trip there almost planned with strategic stops along the way so we can see the country and the people who made it great from politics to music to food.

One thing to be thankful for right now is no more negative campaign ads. Yea!

I can now focus on healthcare and financial options at work, get my husband’s oil changed. Now that I’m older and wiser (husband surprised me out at dinner with roses for my birthday) I can get that done this week.

Before we head over the river and through the woods, I wanted to thank you for reading and contributing to this venture.

I’ve been making soups and stews to go along with the cooler weather. There was a special on stew meat the other day so I got double (triple) what we needed so some is frozen for use another day. Beef Carbonnade is a staple, so is curried butternut squash soup (I added roasted carrots this time).

Another task is cleaning the grill, a messy job and one I’ll have to do before the snow sets in. We grill year-round, my husband just shovels a path out there and dons his winter jacket and cossack hat and miner’s lamp. I check done-ness and prepare “sides” in the kitchen. I’m also the official timer.

We’ve never seen a snowflake here so it’ll be an interesting first winter. As to wildlife there are tons of squirrels, I’ve seen a fox once, and there’s a wild turkey living in a park nearby. No, we’re not having this Tom to Thanksgiving dinner!

The election season is over and it’s on to other important things like making better biscuits and whether I should bring mincemeat tarts to Nanny’s. Cheers, Dee

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Fall is Here

Posted on September 26, 2011 | 2 comments

The maples are a bright red.  This weekend the aspens started to turn bright yellow.  It hasn’t been long.  It snowed in June, so we had a foreshortened “mud season” that others in this nation call “spring” and summer.

I need the right light to get the camera out and get a few shots for you.  The nights are downright cold and I love having the upstairs windows open a bit, and my husband looks like a mummy with sheet, blanket and heavy comforter while I dangle my feet out and toss off the comforter.

There are already folks with short-ski roller blades and poles going down the path, and a new path underneath the State Road that will lead to XC ski-only trails.  There is a lot to be done here that has been put off due to the long and snowy winter, and only a few weeks to do it.  Luckily I kept my snow tires on, because I only drive a few miles a day, but others will need theirs soon.

In my “surprise” box I try to get every week from the farms that deliver our milk, eggs, and other items, I got one small butternut squash.  I made a very good and spicy curried butternut squash soup with it.  It made us two mugs of soup with one extra, that’s in the frig for lunch.

First, I halved and seeded the squash, basted it with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper and baked it, cut side down, for an hour in a 325 oven.  Let it cool enough to handle while you saute 1 medium onion.  I also toasted store-bought curry powder in a dry skillet until fragrant.  When you can get the flesh off the squash, put it and the softened onions in a food processor and process completely, adding chicken broth as needed.

I then placed it on the stove, added the curry and more chicken broth and let simmer.  I added more black pepper and cayenne.  Don’t thin it too much because you want to add about 1/2 c heavy cream at the end for richness.  We’d had lunch, carne asada, at one of our favorite restaurants so had soup and a turkey sandwich (a good one, made by me) for dinner.

Yesterday was the last Park Silly market, for the year.  Soon the Farmers’ Markets will shut down, without even making it to their peak this year though I had a couple of ripe peaches.  Then the snow will fall and look pretty through January.  After that the 14′ piles become grey, then black and melt through May and June.  Another year in paradise.  Dee

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Surprise!

Posted on March 27, 2011 | Leave a comment

Being in the hinterlands, I have some items brought to my door weekly, including milk,eggs, bacon, sausage, butter, breads and sometime a surprise box. It used to be all organic. In the harsh winters that is difficult to do here.

Today I used a huge butternut squash, and an apple from last week’s treasures. I roasted the squash with an onion for an hour with olive oil, salt and pepper. Then I turned the squash and put them atop the oven to cool. The onions were not done enough so I cut them down further and sauteed them with apple pieces. I also toasted garam masala in a dry pan to add to the soup as needed.

I first used the food processor to mix the onions and apples, that had gotten a dose of chicken broth to hasten their softening. Then I processed the pulp of the butternut squash I’d taken off the skin with a spoon, with more chicken broth.

The pulps were added to a large pot and started to boil and sputter almost immediately. I added more broth and 1/3 of the curry seasoning. More broth, then some fresh apple juice I happened to have on hand and more of the curry seasoning. About 1/4 cup of heavy cream and the rest of the curry seemed to work. I added a bit of salt, pepper and cayenne and we were good to go.

This is why I don’t write recipes for you, or copy others. Sometimes I want to give you a great recipe but will be sued for doing so.

Perhaps my age allows me to create whatever culinary confections that come to mind. And we all know a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Cheers, Dee

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