squash and babies! (not in that order)

Happy Valentine's day! I'm not really doing anything to celebrate it, though I may eat a piece of chocolate later. (That's what counts for hedonism with me these days!) Today I have mostly spent working on crocheting a baby blanket. Why a baby blanket? Because one of my dearest, closest friends is pregnant!!

My friend Brianne, who is my closest friend in Ireland, found out a couple weeks ago that she's having a baby! Luckily, she is in the final year of her PhD; the baby is due a month after her thesis is! I was the first person to know about it, even before the daddy, and she told me that I can be the Fairy Godmother. I take this to mean I have an obligation to cover the kid in crocheted items. Last week, I whipped together a little sweater-jacket-- baby things work up quickly, because they're so small! This weekend, I've turned my attention to a blanket, and I spent a lot of time last night and this morning designing it. I'm excited to have come up with a pattern mostly on my own.


Speaking of things I came up with on my own, the other thing I did today was make some winter squash soup from scratch! I was mostly trying to free up some space in my fridge and use whatever I had lying around, and the end result was really, really tasty. The sage really brings out the flavor of the squash, the curry adds a bit of sweetness, and the cayenne pepper adds some heat that's quite nice on a winter afternoon. I'll give you the recipe, though be warned-- there aren't really any measurements, because I just eyeballed the whole thing.

Curried Winter Squash Soup Ingredients:
-1 winter squash
-chicken stock (or veggie stock, if you want a totally vegan soup, but chicken stock is what I had)
-onion
-a couple cloves of garlic
-red bell pepper (optional, again just something I had)
-olive oil
-sage
-curry powder
-black pepper
-pinch cayenne pepper
-salt/soy sauce

-Roast the squash in the oven until soft, at about 350°. Mine took about an hour; I cut it in half, laid it cut-side down for the first 30 minutes, then flipped it and baked it cut-side up for another 30.
-At the same time you can roast the red pepper! Cut in half, clean out seeds, lay cut-side down on roasting pan until the skin is blackened and wrinkly.
-When the squash is roasted, cut it out of the skin and into chunks. Also dice up the red pepper, after removing the skin.
-Heat olive oil in the bottom of a saucepan and saute the onions until caramelized.
-Remove saucepan from heat, add chicken stock.
-Dice garlic cloves. Add garlic and squash chunks to the saucepan, and simmer on low for 30ish minutes.
-Using a potato masher, mash the squash chunks into the stock! You can also use a blender or food processor to puree the squash with the stock, but I actually like a bit of texture to my soup.
-Stir in the diced roasted pepper, add spices to taste. Simmer on low for 5-10 more minutes.
-Serve with a dollop of plain yogurt! I used thick Greek-style yogurt. Creme fraiche or sour cream would also work. Or, if you want a vegan soup, skip it.