3 pound butternut squash
2 small potatoes
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
2/3 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Roast potatoes and squash until very tender, about an hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to the touch.
3. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until tender, then add the garlic and white wine.
4. Bring the wine to a boil and reduce by half, then stir in the chicken broth and reduce heat to a gentle simmer.
5. Cube the potatoes and slice the squash in half, scooping out out seeds. Add the potatoes and flesh of the squash to the soup.
6. Transfer the soup to a food processor or blender and puree in batches. Return to the pot.
7. Stir in stir in thyme and heavy cream and cook just long enough to heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Makes 6 servings

A lot of good food boils down to simply having good ingredients. I don't like to admit this to myself because to me that means no matter how good of a cook I become, unless my income increases my food will never be particularly good. Skills in the kitchen will only take you so far. Ironically, this has actually helped me save a bit of money over the course of the year by trying to buy seasonal ingredients, which taste better and are less expensive. That's how I can make a simple soup like Creamy Butternut Squash Soup and be completely satisfied with it, because it's November. This recipe would not be so pleasing in April. Perhaps that has nothing to do with income at all and just some rational thinking. Perhaps I'm just babbling to fill up some space since I only have 1 dish to talk about tonight. Perhaps, perhaps.

Butternut squash is probably my favorite squash. It has a nice, smooth shape, not a lot of seeds and the perfect blend of sweetness and savoriness that can lend it the ability to go either way. It also has a nice, bright orange color, which I think means it's rich in something good for you, like a carrot. I think it even sounds like carrot; carrotine or something. Maybe it's just a vitamin, eh? Oh dear, I think that was just a bit of nutritional humor.

Seriously though folks, I can't squash my desire for this soup! Shannon has a bit of an aversion to thyme, but even she liked it so much that she said, "This would taste really good… if it weren't for that herb you put in there!" Yes, everyone enjoys this soup, even those that don't. It also gave me another excuse to make use of the blender. Though I had to puree the whole pot in about 6 batches because the steam was causing the lid to blow off and throw soup all over the kitchen, a blender did the job.

I've been getting flak for horrible pictures again. Here's another one to toss into the fray! I fully intended to take more pictures after I realized that this batch didn't turn out whatsoever, but then I forgot. Even after eating leftovers for several days (soup is good for that), I still never got around to it. I've thought of a workaround for the horrible photographs when it comes to the book though, so I suppose it will be okay in the long run.