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{recipe} butternut squash soup

{recipe} butternut squash soup

10.27.2010

After many weeks of craving this dish, I finally caved and made my mom's Apple & Butternut Squash Soup. It's been unreasonably warm in Dallas but I've still been craving hot apple cider, cute brown riding boots, chunky sweaters, and all things pumpkin flavored. I decided I couldn't wait any longer, so I headed to Central Market after work yesterday to pick up the ingredients.

Here is my version of the recipe
  • 1 large butternut sqaush - peeled, seeded, diced
  • 3-5 Granny Smith apples (depending on how big they are) - peeled, cored, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic - minced
  • 2-3 shallots (depending on size) - chopped
  • 2-3 cups chicken/vegetable stock
  • 1-2 cups water (basically to cover the veggies)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream 
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil and saute shallots and garlic in olive oil until tender and fragrant. Add chopped squash, apples, stock and water. (My mom sautes her apples in butter and a touch of cinnamon instead of boiling them with the squash but I was too lazy to dirty another pan.) Cook squash and apples until fork tender (about 25 minutes). Puree soup by using a blender, food processor or immersion blender until very smooth. Return to pot. Add cream, nutmeg, salt/pepper to taste. Garnish with shredded aged cheddar, dollop of sour cream or paprika. Enjoy fall in a bowl!

well, hello October and hello fall!

10.05.2010

I posted a record of 2 times in September. Ouch, not so good. It's not that I've been particularly busy, just not particularly inspired. Things have been sorta "ho-hum" lately and I haven't really felt very excited about anything. Let's get you all up to speed. The second half of September consisted of my cousin's wedding in Chicago and the infamous SMU vs. TCU rivalry game. The wedding was a BLAST and I had a great time catching up with my family.

The Boehm Family (Mom in white and her sisters and brothers)
Mom has perfected the pose!
Cousins!
I hadn't seen my cousin Tyler and his wife Erica since their wedding 5 years ago and now Erica is pregnant!

Me and my cousin Tyler probably when I was about 8


The SMU vs. TCU game was on a friday and it was also family weekend. I was able to sneak out of work at 4:30 and make it over to the boulevard just in time. The stadium was packed full with 34,000 fans in red, with a sprinkling of purple TCU fans. SMU was the first to score and was beating TCU at two points in the game but in the end TCU won out. I still feel pretty good about my Mustangs for holding our own against a #4 ranked team. So far SMU has a winning record in our conference!

I also finally was able to buy my bike! Action pictures to come!

Ok now on to the real point of this post. So far, I have the feeling that October is going to be a great month. I started the first day of October by attending the Citizen Cope concert at the House of Blues with some of my friends. We had such a good time! (pic) Then I spent the rest of the weekend relaxing on the couch and reading outside. The weather has been just perfect!
This morning I met with my small group for the second time. I've joined this 'bible study' through HPUMC for young adults. I was skeptical at first because it can be a scary thing, pouring your heart out to 'strangers' and discussing our spirituality. I was pleasantly surprised that I actually loved the group! I look forward to it every week and the 8 of us really get along so well! Last Tuesday when I got to work, I felt just a little bit different, had a bit of a spring in my step. We meet at 7am so I had to wake up earlier than usual so I expected to be a little more tired at work but it had quite the opposite affect on me. I'm really looking forward to more Tuesday mornings with this group and maybe I'll be inspired to wake up a little bit earlier each morning and have a little quiet time before the craziness of the day.

"Let your light so shine before the world so that he may see your good works and give glory to our Father in Heaven"
~ Matthew 5:16


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