Tuesday, April 08, 2008

It's Just Another Manic Monday


Oh, wait! It's Tuesday! *sigh*

What does one do when one has an entire "day off" to play with?

If you're crazy like I am, you do this:

1. Make a huge batch of curried butternut squash soup
2. Keep an eye on the next batch of maple syrup while Hubby is doing farm chores
3. Do Turbo Jam
4. Mop floors
5. Vacuum entire house
6. Compost in the garden
7. Clean dining room
8. Clean living room
9. Clean games room
10. Clean guest room
11. Clean greenhouse
12. Groom Chance (that dog is crazy looking! He's got burrs in his thick coat! Arrrgh!)
13. Cat litter
14. Make supper
15. Clear old raspberry canes so the new ones can come in (This took me over an hour and a half and I'm only half done!)
16. Laundry (3 loads)

Man! It feels like I did a lot today, but looking at the list, I only got seven things scratched off! Argh. Imagine what it's like when it's not a day off?
Since I'm in the sharing mood, I thought I'd post my Curried Butternut Squash Soup recipe with you.Flipping through my vegetarian bible from when I was a university student, my eyes wandered across the dog-eared, food stained pages. You know a book is treasured when it looks used and as though it has had better days!

I love, love, love butternut squash (or "squish", as Hubby likes to call it). I love it sliced in half, seeded, and baked in the oven as is. No need to add anything to it. Butternut squash is perfect on its own. I also love making this green bean and butternut squash dish, but today I felt like having soup. The soup I make is a slight adaption of Mollie Katzen's Curried Squash and Mushroom Soup from her Moosewood Vegetarian Cookbook. Though I love the original recipe, I've made a similar soup with my own touch. For some reason, I didn't like the mushrooms in the soup, so I omitted them. I also changed a few other things. Here's my recipe:

1 butternut squash
2 1/2 c. water
1 c. orange juice
1 Tbs. butter
1 c. onion, chopped
2 or more cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
pinch of cayenne pepper

The cookbook calls for the squash to be halved, seeded, and placed face down on a baking sheet in a 375 degree oven and baked for 40 min. I usually do this and the squash comes out very sweet and buttery. This time, I didn't have 40 min to bake the squash first, so I cut the squash up into 1 in. pieces and cooked them in a pot with a bit of water. Once soft, I used my hand blender (you could scoop little batches and put it in a blender/food processor and puree). Puree squash and water, and gradually add orange juice.

In a skillet, heat butter (or oil if you want to make this dish vegan) and add onion, garlic, salt and spices. Cook over medium heat until the onion is almost translucent and everything is sauteed well. Add the saute to the pureed squash. Blend together and you're done! Yummy!

For Jimmy:
This is what we see from our living room window...
We spotted ninteen deer yesterday around supper time. Driving back to the Island from Espanola the other day, I counted seventy (Yes, SEVENTY!) deer, two raccoons, six Sandhill Cranes, and too many Canada Geese to count.

8 comments:

Jan said...

I've never found a recipe for squash that I liked, but yours looks amazing. I'll give squash one more chance.

Unknown said...

Jan:
Hubby is not much of a squash fan (hence the nickname he gives for it: squish). Squash is one of my favourites, so I cook quite a few squash dishes.

The squash & green bean recipe is one of Hubby's new faves. It's sauteed in a little bit of chopped bacon and onion. Together, it tastes really good on a little bed of rice.

I like the soup. It reminds me of a butternut squash soup I had at a really swanky restaurant once. Hubby only had one bowl, which leads me to believe that it doesn't quite suit his taste buds. It's probably too sweet a soup for him. He's more of a robust soup kind of guy.

Uncivil said...

Omygosh!!!!I'm comming to see you guys if I ever get independently wealthy!!!LOL!!!!
Thanks for posting that pic for me C. They are gorgeous.
I love squash too!

caninecologne said...

hi! i just want to let you know that i received your card w/the MO yesterday! thanks! did you know my bday was coming up? because it is!

Unknown said...

Uncivil:
It would be great if you, Ab & Em could one day come visit! ;)

Canine:
LOL! Too funny! I apologized profusely for sending you the birthday card (I didn't have any blank cards left), but I didn't realize your birthday was coming up! :)

Anonymous said...

chris that soup sounds way to healthy for my family ! hah hah!

Farmer John said...

I usually do not count deer, but when I was kid, I saw a field with 140+ deer. After seeing so many one stops couting at twenty plus.

Tracy said...

Amazing view from your window!!!

The soup recipe sounds awesome!

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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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