Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Sweet Butternut Squash Soup


One of the biggest drawbacks of having an overdeveloped sweet tooth is that I don’t really like vegetables at all. However, I know that eating plenty of vegetables is an important part of healthy living, so I am always on the lookout for easy, yummy, vegetable-based recipes. This past weekend, I was thumbing through my copy of Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special and decided to try Butternut Squash Soup with Frizzled Sage. Of course, I can never leave well enough alone, so I made a few tweaks to the recipe. Even with my modifications, it’s not that quick, but it sure is easy and very sweet! I’ll be eating the leftovers for lunch all this week, I liked it so much. Here’s the modified recipe I’ll use next time I make this soup.

 

Sweet Butternut Squash Soup

¼ cup olive oil
3 pounds of precut butternut squash (I bought mine at Trader Joe’s)
6 garlic cloves
2 large white onions, peeled and quartered
¼ cup water
3 cups apple juice (mmm…sweet, sweet apple juice)
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
 
Preheat the oven to 400o. Line a large baking sheet with foil and brush the foil with some of the olive oil. Add the butternut squash, onion and garlic and brush with remaining olive oil. Pour water into the bottom of the backing sheet, cover with more foil, and bake 45-50 minutes until veggies are soft. Transfer veggies (without drippings) to a large bowl. Add apple juice, thyme, nutmeg and salt, and then use a stick blender to puree the soup until it is as smooth as it is sweet. Serve as is, or reheat on the stove as needed. Makes 6 servings.


Linking up with Tuesday at the Table.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Mini Cherry Pies


When I learned that January 23 is National Pie Day, I knew I had to celebrate it somehow. Since I’ve been in a Valentine’s Day mood lately, heart-shaped personal pies seemed just the thing. I called up my mom and asked her over for a Sunday afternoon session of Mini Cherry Pie making so that I could make enough to share at work. (Yes, that meant I took the pies to work two days early, but no way was I going to make pies by myself on a Tuesday evening with a toddler underfoot!)


We started with store-bought pie crust and filling, and used a Pocket Pie Mold to assemble the pies. While time-intensive, they turned out scrumptious, and were a big hit at the office. Wrapping them in wax paper bags and twine made transporting them to work simple. Many thanks to my mom for all her help!


By the way, March 14 is National Pi Day. Another good day for pie, perhaps?

Linking up with Tuesday at the Table, of course.