~Soup~

I have been MIA for a bit, lets just say the sickies hit this house hard and **cross fingers, knock on wood** hopefully we are getting over them for good. Besides a giant batch of chicken soup that was filled with so much good stuff (celery, carrots, onions, garlic, cabbage, and of course chicken), I also made a big batch of butternut squash soup. I have made it a few times, but this time it turned out great so I wanted to share what I did to finally get a great batch of squash soup!

Ingredients:

• 1 large butternut squash (about 6+ cups cubed)
• 3 Tb butter
• 1 cup chopped onion (I used white)
• 1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (use less if you don't want a big kick)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3 Tb. cream cheese
• a dash or two of cinnamon

1. First I cut the squash into quarters and microwaved for about 8 minutes (cut side down), or until skin cut easily from the meat of the squash. Meanwhile I heated the butter in my stock pot, then added my onions and apples and sauteed until soft. 
2. Cube the squash and add it to the onion mixture. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the cream cheese. If squash is not soft yet, heat until completely soft. 
3. Next put the soup and cream cheese, in batches, into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth (or desired consistency). Add the soup back to the pot and cook until hot, making sure not to let it boil (if it boils it will curdle due to the cream cheese).

That's it! This has some kick to it, if you don't want the spice then omit the cayenne pepper. This would be so good with some bacon crumbles on top and served with some hard bread. Ethan and I are big fans, the rest of the family not so much.