Today is my birthday. No, those candles are not enough to represent the years. Our city has a strict fire code on how many candles one can put on a cake. So far, there's no cake to put any candles atop. I have delicious hope!
In the meantime, it's snowing and I have a desire for soup. Four butternut squash from last fall's market kept calling out "make something with us" from the windowsill. Today I obliged. I found this recipe over at AllRecipes
And I pretty much followed it exactly.
The recipe says it serves 4. The four would have to be very hungry to polish off the generous amount. I, always happy to have a soup on freezer standby, froze enough for another meal for two and was still left with four ample servings for the present (snow-filled) day.
Butternut Squash and Apple Soup recipe from Allrecipes
2 tbsp butter
2 large leeks (white and pale green part only) thoroughly washed and roughly chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 large potato, peeled and chopped
2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
1 cup diced carrots
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and cubed
1 quart chicken stock
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Melt buter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in leeks and onions and cook until the onion softens and turns translucent--about 5 minutes. Add potato, squash, carrots, apple and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the vegetables are soft--about 30 minutes.
2. Puree the soup in batches in a blender or use an immersion blender* to puree the soup in the pot. Stir in the wine and cream. Season with the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Simmer for about five more minutes.
ENJOY!
*I recently purchased an immersion blender. WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG? I love it!!!!!
