2 small acorn squash
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, minced
2 cups button mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1-1/2 tablespoons flour
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup half and half cream
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon dried parsley
salt and pepper

1. Bake squash whole on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven. Allow to cool, cut in half and scoop out seeds and stringy pulp.
2. Melt butter with olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat and add the onions, cooking until tender.
3. Add the mushrooms and stir until moisture has evaporated.
4. Add the wine and allow to evaporate as well.
5. Mix flour, thyme, salt and pepper into mushrooms and onions.
6. Add chicken broth, mix and then puree to desired consistency in a blender or food processor.
7. Return mixture to the soup pot, reducing heat to low and whisking in the cream.
8. Fill acorn squash bowls with mushroom soup to serve garnished with parsley and ground pepper.

Makes 4 servings

The sickness is beginning to spread to me. The dreaded influenza passes through my body. I can feel that tingle in the back of my throat, that fogginess in my head and the general feeling of ennui that comes with realizing the inevitable onset of worsened symptoms. I've been taking several grams of vitamin C and echinacea, hopefully that helps it out somehow.

I read a different article about the common cold that says that drinking milk producing more mucous is actually a myth. I could have sworn that every time I've drank milk, ill or otherwise, I've produced more mucous. Maybe I just made all that up. At any rate, that's been lingering in my head and all I've wanted is a belly warming cream soup.

Apparently you can roast an acorn squash whole. This shouldn't come as a surprise to me, but it does. I've always risked slicing open my hand trying to cut it in half and scoop out the seeds, but no longer! Just a couple of pricks and we're good to go. Then, of course, I have to cut it in half and scoop out the seeds, but the squash stays moist and it's much easier to cut into.

I filled the center with Cream of Mushroom Soup. Shannon has told me many times that she hates mushroom soup and I never believed her. Even when she asked me what I was making, made an ew face and said that she thought mushroom soup was disgusting. Even when I explicitly questioned her as to how she could possibly hate mushroom soup, because I love it and she must be crazy. So, I made it, she took one bite and gagged. Now I have a whole pot of mushroom soup for my eating pleasure and Shannon can make use of the leftovers.

I'm really a considerate boyfriend. Honest! I thought I was doing a good thing. I thought I could turn around her opinion of mushroom soup by making it from scratch instead of out of a can, but I was wrong. However, the soup itself is very right. It definitely hit the spot!