A Butternut Squash Soup kind of day

Good morning, Crushers!

Steve and I have been working on getting through some of the veggies we still had stored in our freezer from last fall's harvest. We recently ate roasted beets from his family's garden. Remember when they turned my hands purple? Fortunately, that didn't happen when we roasted them this time! HA!

I had some left over butternut squash from fall when I made risotto with my grandpa. Freezing the leftovers really paid off because I was able to turn the squash into a really nice soup last weekend. Perfect for a Tuesday night dinner with some fancy grilled cheese (provolone with spinach and mushrooms - yum!). This recipe made enough for the both of us for dinner plus three 2-cup containers for the freezer!

I took a the Butternut Squash and Carrot soup recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and tweaked it. I didn't have enough carrots on hand, so I substituted potatoes. Also, I couldn't find nutmeg anywhere in the house, so I used cinnamon instead. The soup was a bit sweet, but it was a nice compliment to the salty grilled cheese.


Butternut Squash Soup:
Ingredients:
3-4 cups butternut squash, peeled and chopped into one inch pieces
2 cups potatoes (I used red potatoes), peeled and chopped into small pieces
1/2 a large onion, diced
1 Tbsp butter
1 32 oz box container of low-sodium chicken broth (veggie broth would work too)
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup half-and-half or heavy whipping cream

Gear you'll need: A large sauce pan or pot, measuring cups and spoons, a blender or food processor, a sharp knife, cutting board and veggie peeler.

Directions:
I was fortunate enough to already have peeled my squash, so I didn't have to do that again. What a challenge! Anyway, peel your potatoes and dice them and the onions if you haven't already done so. Put the potatoes, squash, diced onion and butter in the pan/pot and cook for about 7-8 minutes stirring occasionally. They should be tender when you poke them with a knife.

Simmerin' away...

Once the veggies are tender, add the broth and bring it to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for a good 25 minutes. You can stir it occasionally. Your squash and potatoes might start to break down a bit. That's perfectly OK since you're going to puree it in a minute.

While that's simmering away, assemble your blender or food processor. I know that I'm one of the biggest food processor fans in the whole world, but I chose to use a blender for this one. I KNOW. Here's why:

1. I knew I would be pouring hot liquids and the blender has a spout.
2. It is easy to measure with the lines on the side of the blender, although you don't REALLY need to measure too much.
3. It is easy to clean up!
4. It has a puree button.
5. I couldn't find the right attachment that I wanted to use on my food processor.

Really, numbers 1 and 4 were my biggest reasons, but I figured I'd share them all just in case it sways you one way or the other.

Make sure the lid is on tight!

Once you're all done simmering, add about 1/3 of the mixture to the blender, make sure you have the lid on securely, and puree the heck out of it! Make sure it's nice and creamy. Although the original recipe said to return it to your sauce pan, I just put it in a big bowl that has a lid because I knew I'd be storing it before we'd eat it. As you repeat the steps to puree the mixture, be careful that you don't spill and burn your fingers or arm.

TRUST ME. IT'S VERY HOT.

Anyway, once you've got that all done and in a large bowl or back in your sauce pan, add the cream and spices. You could have added the spices already, so if you did, that's fine. I don't think it matters too terribly much. All the real chefs out there can prove me wrong in the comments if you'd like!

Now you can divide the soup into "now and later" portions or you can just stand there with a spoon and eat it. There's no judging here.

Enjoy!

Virtual Running Date No. 33: No excuses and lots of sharing!

Good morning Crushers!

I would like to apologize for my silence in the blog-o-sphere for the past week. It's been crazy around here. I do have a recipe to share and fun news.

If this were a running date, I would tell you that baby and I did some run/walking while Steve actually ran. It was nice that he was happy to just jog on his own. We've had some snow here in Wisconsin, and that means there's some icy spots hiding. I hate ice. I do not want to slip, especially now! Unless I have ice clinking in my glass of iced tea or lemonade or keeping my cooler chilly, I do not need ice.

If we were on a running date, I could tell you that we finally sold our house! After moving the closing date three times, we were able to close on Friday after Thanksgiving. So while everyone else was out buying things, we were selling! YAY! New home in 19 days... pictures will follow I'm sure.

If this were a running date, I would tell you that I got to spend time with two of the cutest dudes this weekend. See?

Oh the cuteness! Such chubby cheeks!

If this were a running date, I would share this adorable photo of my 97-year-old grandpa helping me make butternut squash risotto (recipe from Iowa Girl Eats here). And yes, you really can make risotto by pouring in all the broth at once. Just keep stirring! It was delicious, but I would definitely add more garlic than the recipe calls for. We have garlic lovers at our house!

He's carefully measuring squash for me.

One last fun piece of news! We had people guess the baby's gender at work and at Thanksgiving. Since we've been on this football theme, my friend Sarah made these yummy cupcakes.

People placed their bets!

And the answer...

Team Pink!

We're very excited to be able to call the baby "she" or say "her" instead of "it" all the time. Healthy baby girl on the way! Can't wait to decorate the new house and the baby's room!

"D'oh!" Dough

I am going to need a second cup of coffee this morning. Why? Because I am terrible at making dough, and I was too ambitious to try three different dough recipes in the past week. I stayed up until 11 p.m. making this new recipe. WHY DID I DO THIS TO MYSELF?!

Back a few posts to the Kitchen Mischief Review, I said how you should never swear in the kitchen. I think that foods pick up on your moods and act accordingly. I once made a layer cake (granted, I was doing this WAY too late at night in order to have it done for a friend's birthday party the next day), and the top layer kept sliding off since I kept swearing at it. Now, I'm normally not a potty mouth, but sometimes I slip. And when that happens, all of a sudden your rolling pin slips out of your hands and sends flour across your kitchen floor. Ugh, dough problems.

Anyway, I had the house to myself last night, so I thought I would spend some quality time in the kitchen attempting to make this drool-worthy Butternut Squash Gnocchi from Iowa Girl Eats. My high school friend Kelly suggested that I start reading this blog, and she was right! Kristin from Iowa Girl Eats is adorable and a total kitchen crush. We both like running, cooking, traveling and all sorts of stuff, so it's fun to read! She probably now thinks that I'm obsessed and/or crazy, but no, I'm just a fan. *waves hi to Kristin*

Major props to Kristin who could actually make these lovely hand-rolled gnocchi with what sounds like cool confidence. I'm only going to guess that she did this without getting frustrated at how sticky the dough was. I felt like I could not get enough flour into this dough. Granted, I probably should have measured it out like a good little student instead of eye-balling it. Argh.

I did manage to get a few pictures of the process until my hands became covered in dough while trying to roll them out. I'm going to direct you right to Iowa Girl Eats for the recipe instead of writing down what I did, especially since mine got a little out of control. However, I've got a big ol' bag of these gnocchi in my freezer now, so I hope I didn't botch them. I was too tired when I finished these at 11 p.m. to actually boil some and add the buttery sauce. This will happen soon though, and I'll report back.

Here are the pictures:

Pop the olive oil covered butternut squash in the oven for roasting with a sprinkling of pepper and salt

Food processor full of delicious roasted squash!
I could have stopped right here and eaten the whole thing of butternut squash puree.

Frozen (hopefully) tasty freezer bag of gnocchi.
Note the cooking instructions written on the bag.

TEASER: These are my entry in the newspaper's holiday cookie contest.
Recipe soon to come. Stay posted.