A bowlful of candy.

A few months ago, my husband told me to put on a dress because we were going out for a fancy pants dinner. I got the most amazing butternut squash soup, which I described as a bowlful of candy, and I ate every last drop. Here we are at our fancy pants dinner; it was definitely as fancy as Provo gets, though this picture doesn't give much context:

Well this past week we were both sick, and on the day that I was sicker than Mark, he did some grocery shopping. One of the treasures he came home with was a butternut squash! On Sunday we made a healthier version of the soup I had at that fancy place. It was delectable.

Butternut Squash Soup (adapted from a recipe by ChefGiuseppe Di Gennaro as listed in the Calgary Herald on 9.17.10)

2T Butter

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 gala apple, chopped

1 butternut squash, peeled and seeded, chopped

1 14-oz can chicken broth

1/4 cup fat free half and half

1/4 tsp. sage

cinnamon and salt

2T maple syrup

You just sauté the onion and apple in the butter until they're both caramelized, then add everything else but the maple syrup and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 25 minutes until the squash is super soft.

Then, ladle about 1/2 of the soup into a blender and puree it. Transfer to a bowl and puree the remaining soup.

At this point you're supposed to drain the soup through a sieve. Well let's be honest, I don't have one of those, so we just dumped the pureed soup back into the pot, stirred in the maple syrup, and viola, butternut squash soup. It was way good.

On a recent trip to Cafe Trio with my parents, I tried some ravioli with a butternut squash sauce, and this (sieved) soup would make a grand ravioli sauce.

So there you go, kids. Go kick off your fall with a healthy bowlful of candy butternut squash soup.