Butternut-Acorn Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Nothing says fall like rich, hearty, warm, luscious soups. It's raining (or snowing) outside and you are curled up cozy with a fire going, something yummy on the stove, chilling and reading a book under you're favorite blanker right?

Of course! I mean, that is the best part of soup! You can throw together a bunch of ingredients and sit back and relax for awhile.

I had a butternut squash chillin' in the fridge that I had intended to use to make a pasta creamy squashy dish that involves wild mushrooms. MMMM Mushrooms.

I digress.

There isn't enough there to make a whole pot of soup, but maybe I could combine some other stuff with it...Hmmmm there is an acorn squash that I bought...ummm....let me think...ummmm...well, it's still ok, and some sweet potatoes.

Those 3 sounds good together.

So we need:
1 butternut squash
1 acorn squash
2 sweet potatoes
4c chicken or veg broth
2c milk or half and half (i used fat free half and half)
1 onion cut into small pieces
3 cloves garlic, murdered thoroughly
a little smoked gouda to sprinkle on top
salt and pepper to taste

Let's get down to business. We must cook the squash an potatoes. Get out your handy dandy baking sheet. Slice the squash' in half and clean. If you garden, save a few of those seeds for the garden next year. Slice the sweet potatoes in half as well.

Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put in oven uncovered and bake about 30-45 mins at 350 or until squishy.

When squash is about done, saute onion and garlic (poor murdered garlic) in a tablespoon of butter, salt and pepper until onion is thoroughly cooked through. Add chicken stock and let simmer while squash finishes.

Take squash out of oven and let cool a little, enough you can handle it. Mind you, I don't wait. I just dig right in and say ouch a lot. I'm impatient.

Scoop out flesh from all veggies and discard skins, add flesh into pot.

*Giggle* Flesh..

It's like flesh... you know...

Oh nevermind...

Add the milk and heat.

So now you have options. There are a few ways of handling this.
Option 1: If you have an immersion blender (the stick) the blend away. Make it all kinds of creamy and yummy by liquifying the veggies.
Option 2: If you have a regular blender and do not like chunky butternut squash soup, then scoop the flesh into the blender and get it al creamy then add it to the onions and broth, then add the milk.
Option 3: (what i did because I am immersion blender-less and my regular blender I got mad at for being stupid and put in the giveaway box) Use a whisk to break up the squash/potato in the soup pot. You get a well textured soup, but not creamy.

Heat thoroughly and serve. I topped mine with some shredded smoked gouda and a sprinkle of parsley. The parsley was mainly to make it look all pretty for the pictures...but it didn't taste half bad either :-)

Pair with some french bread or a spinach salad. (make salad while squash is cooking and chill) MMMMM.

This, by the way, can easily be adapted to a crock pot (peel and chunk the veggies and dump into crock with liquids) or can cook for a length of time on low heat. You know, so you can finish that book.



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Butternut-Acorn Squash and Sweet Potato Soup______________________

1 butternut squash
1 acorn squash
2 medium sweet potatoes
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
4c broth (chicken or veggie)
2c milk (or half and half)
salt and pepper
1/4c shredded smoked gouda

Cut squash in half and potatoes. Brush or spray with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in oven uncovered at 350 for 30-45 mins. Saute onion in stock pot with garlic. Add broth. When squash and potatoes are soft, scoop out flesh and follow one of 3 options.


Option 1: If you have an immersion blender (the stick) the blend away. Make it all kinds of creamy and yummy by liquifying the veggies.
Option 2: If you have a regular blender and do not like chunky butternut squash soup, then scoop the flesh into the blender and get it al creamy then add it to the onions and broth, then add the milk.
Option 3: Use a whisk to break up the squash/potato in the soup pot. You get a well textured soup, but not creamy.


Add milk and heat.
Serve with shredded cheese on top.

Makes about 8 servings

Pumpkin Cranberry Orange Pancakes with Caramelized Pecans, Cheesy Eggs and Bacon

Yes another pumpkin thing. You'll live. It's fall. I like pumpkin. So there.

I had some leftover pumpkin and cranberry sauce from the pumpkin cinnamon rolls and cranberry pancakes made about a week ago and they needed to get used.

I decided that pancakes would be a good idea. I was tired of my fried egg on toast that is the usual morning breakfast. Along with coffee. Must have coffee.

And its Saturday, which means for some odd reason I need to make a real breakfast. Something from the kids about since I'm home and they are home and we have no place to go, I should make a real breakfast...vs cereal or toast. Whatever.



What you will need:

• Pumpkin
• Cranberry sauce
• Flour
• Eggs
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Sugar
• Vanilla
• Orange extract or frozen orange concentrate (if you use concentrate, eliminate the sugar)
• Vinegar
• Salt
• Pumpkin Pie spice
• Eggs (1-2 per person), salt and pepper, milk (1tbs per egg more or less)
• Bacon

So this is super simple. These are fat fluffy pancakes so therefore are filling. 

Get your bacon started now, get eggs mixed up with a pinch of salt and pepper and little milk. Use paper towels (or we have a cloth towel dedicated for draining grease to be more environ friendly) to sop up grease as bacon gets done. You can also cook the bacon in the over on a baking sheet with edges. This makes them all done at once.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together with a fork, flour, soda, powder, sugar, spice and salt. Add vanilla and orange extracts, 2 eggs, 1c pumpkin, 1/4c cranberry sauce, 2tbs vinegar (to make baking soda all fizzy and happy. This is why they are sooooo fluffy!) Mix together with dry ingredients.

Warm up 2 skillets, one large for your pancakes, unless you have one of those electric griddle thingy's, then use it. The other skillet is smaller, for pecans. MMMMM pecans. If you made bacon, you can use some of the grease to coat your pan for pancakes and for eggs. Just makes for added yumminess.

In the smaller skillet melt 1Tbs butter, 1/4c crumbled/chopped/not whole pecans. When butter is melty, coat pecans and add 1Tbs of brown sugar. 

Coat your big skillet/griddle with butter (hold a stick by the wrapper and with open end, rub all over pan. Hands stay clean, no excess of butter.)

Cook until edges look dryish. Sorry, no bubbles on these. Flip and cook on other side for a few seconds.

Keep pancakes warm in oven at 250 on an oven safe dish. 

Turn off the pecans, and let them cool.

Finish off bacon/sausage (if you didn't use oven method) and use same pan for eggs (minus a lot of the grease). To get rid of the grease, I keep a tin can or jar with lid next to stove. Sometimes I am lazy and run it down the garbage disposal (gasp) with hot water. You can keep bacon warm with pancakes in oven, as the get cold fast.

When pancakes are ready sprinkle with pecans and drizzle with syrup. Make the kids set the table and enjoy!

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Pumpkin Cranberry Orange Pancakes____________________________________

1c flour

2t baking soda

1T baking powder

2t pumpkin pie spice

1t salt

2T vinegar

1t vanilla

1t orange extract or 2tsp orange juice concentrate

2 eggs

1c pumpkin

1/4c cranberry sauce (canned)

Pecans:

1/2c pecans

1T brown sugar

1T butter

Mix dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients and mix gently with a fork. Heat pan of griddle to medium-high heat. Drop pancake batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto greased pan. Cook until edges start to look dry and pancake puffs. Flip and cook for a 1-2 minutes on opposite side.

Pecans: Heat butter in small skillet over medium heat until melted. Add chopped pecans and brown sugar. Heat until glazed evenly.