Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

My baby girl has returned to me!

*Cue the music*

Reunited and it feels so good! Oh!

I’m so dramatic sometimes.

Le sigh.

I had another package waiting in my mailbox this afternoon. This one contained my second batch of winnings from Rebecca’s Bake Sale.

Six Red Velvet Cupcakes from the lovely Emily.

Here’s the photo of what I had bid on.

And here’s what was in the box.

I couldn’t help, but let out a little giggle when I opened the box. I mean they’re cupcakes! Of course they’re going to be a tricky one to ship. 😉

But, trust me, that did not stop me from trying one.

The great Red Velvet flavor was still there. It was a moist, delicious cupcake… just slightly disfigured. Can’t win them all I guess.

Thanks Emily! They were still fab! 🙂

I could not wait to get my hands in the kitchen this afternoon. I wanted to cook a real meal. From scratch. In my own kitchen. See, this is my idea of relaxing after a week away.

My little brother and his girlfriend Ashley – yes, ladies my shirtless little brother is taken – were kind enough to drive Maddie up from my parents’ house. I wanted to thank them with a good meal.

Butternut squash was on my mind and after a quick trip to the store, I settled on the idea of a Butternut Squash and Apple Soup – the perfect fall meal for a slightly cool Florida autumn evening.

Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

• 1 medium Butternut Squash
• 2 Apples
• 1/2 Red Onion
• 2 tablespoons minced Garlic
• 2 cups Vegetable Broth
• 1 cup Water
• 1 cup Almond Milk
• Salt & Pepper
• Cinnamon
• Parsly

1. Peel and cube the butternut squash and Apple, add both to a large pot and let them sweat for a few minutes on medium high heat.    
2. Add the red onion, and garlic
3. Next the broth, milk, water, and seasonings
4. Bring to a boil, then to a simmer for 2 hours
5. When ready blend until silky smooth.   

While the soup was simmering I got the brilliant idea to bake some fresh bread to go with it.

The Dill Batter Bread Recipe came courtesy from the Bake for the Cure Cookbook.

In case you missed it I will be baking a couple of recipes from Bake for the Cure Cookbook each week to help raise breast cancer awareness during the month of October. I was sent the cookbook and some ACH products in exchange for my involvement. This is a great cause and I highly suggest you check out the Bake for the Cure website for more baking inspiration then I would probably ever provide. 😉

This particular recipe involved a very scary bread ingredient: yeast. Yikes!

Yeast? Isn’t that usually a death sentence when it comes to homemade bread? I mean, that’s when things get complicated, right?

However, the recipe was pretty basic and involved an interesting twist with the yeast. Instead of dumping the yeast into a separate bowl with warm water, the recipe instructed that I add the packet to a portion of the flour and seasonings. Then a mix of warm butter and water was added to the dry combination. It was an interesting technique that was new to me, but seemed to be a simple one to master.

In no time I had dough.

And 45 minutes of rising and 45 minutes of baking later I had bread.

I modified the original recipe slightly by replacing 1/2 of the all purpose flour with spelt flour.

It smelled soooo good coming out of the oven. The bread itself was dense and well seasoned. It almost reminded all of us of the Cheddar Garlic Biscuits they serve at Red Lobster. It was very well seasoned bread and tasted absolutely delicious hot out of the oven.

When all was said and done I had a fabulous homemade meal that was so good it made me want to cry. I think Ben and Ashley enjoyed it too!

After dinner the three of us headed to the movie theater for a light hearted comedy.

Life As We Know It was probably about as predictable of a movie as they come, but it made me laugh. It’s was cute and a movie I would high recommend it as a fun, escape from reality.

Oddly enough my favorite person in the movie was the red head from Mad Men (Christina Hendricks). She looks completely different when she’s not decked out in 50s costume wear or all dolled up for an award show. She really is a gorgeous actress and that beauty shines through on the big screen.

Guess what just opened next door to the movie theater?!?!

Menchie’s!! Now there’s one 5 minutes away instead of 30. Score!

Even better. They had PUMPKIN!

I had a small mix of Pumpkin, Peanut Butter, and Cake Batter with Chocolate Chips, Kit Kat, Graham Cracker Crumbs, and a Vanilla Wafer.

Whoa. That was a long one!

I’m off to bed now.

Good Night!