Humane Ginger Butternut Squash Soup

The other night, I had my friends Doug and Rob over for dinner. Doug has been a dear friend since high school, and Rob is his lovely partner. They are in town performing in Candide, so we were having a late-night dinner after the theater.

They are both foodies, so I wanted to make something local and sustainable. I decided to go with kale chips, ginger butternut squash soup, and organic valley eggnog, with just a touch of the hard stuff.

Now, whenever I want to try out a new recipe, the first place I look is my telephone... I call my brother, a talented and amazing chef.

So, when I wanted to make butternut squash soup, I called him and asked him for a good recipe.

"I don't use recipes," my brother said in his usual confident,
sarcastic tone.

"Okay... well can you give me instructions?" I asked, humoring his
light braggadocio.

"Sure. Here is what you do:"

INGREDIENTS

- 1 medium to large butternut squash (or 2 small ones)

- 2-3 carrots

- Ginger root to taste (I like my soup very gingery)

- 4 cloves of garlic

- 1 small yellow onion

- enough vegetable broth to cover vegetables

- 1/2 - 1/2 cup of cream (or half-and-half)

INSTRUCTIONS (not recipe)

- Peel and cut butternut squash into small cubes

- Slice carrots and set aside with butternut squash

- chop garlic, ginger, and onion and saute in butter until soft

- Simmer chopped ingredients, butternut squash and carrots in pot with enough vegetable broth to cover the mixture.

- Simmer until you can easily pierce the butternut squash with a fork

- Blend (either in blender or with an immersion blender--- I just bought one and am SO excited to use it!!!)

- Transfer back to pot and add salt/pepper to taste and cream until it has reached desired thickness and spiciness

- EAT! YUM!

We had a great evening eating and catching up!