Harvest Moon Squash Soup

Hubby Eric rototilling with our new toy "Husky"

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Grandson Andy working the soil

Planting the early seeds -

peas, radishes, spinach & scallions

Every seed carefully spaced!

Our new tiller “Husky” arrived and we put it to good use in the garden, with our grandson Andy. The planting is early this year, thanks to Andy, who planted the seeds – peas, radishes, spinach and early scallions. Our guest Soupers - Laura & Jim, are part of our blended family and are gardeners, too. Laura takes pleasure in her flower beds and Jim enjoys growing food for the table from his vegetable garden. Laura has a free spirit and when she makes soup, you never know what will result. They both enjoy cooking and you can tell that in the pictures. Their Harvest Moon Squash Soup has a vegetable base and the chunkiness of the vegetables in the pureed squash has amazing rich texture which makes it very filling. I loved this soup!! Melanie, Laura's sister, brought the pumpkin seed oil from Austria and if you never tried it, you are in for a treat. The pumpkin seed oil has an intense nutty taste and is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids(”Wikipedia”). Once you have tasted this soup you will want to buy the oil, check out this site www.pumpkinseedoil.com.

Harvest Moon Squash Soup

Souper Laura & Souper Jim

Souper Sarah

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This is a wonderfully hearty and satisfying soup, no matter what the weather is. The stunning pumpkin seed oil enhances the flavor and gives it an elegant taste!

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INGREDIENTS
Serves 6-8

2 butternut squash (6 cups), cooked and pureed
1 cup celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, sliced about ¼ inch thick
1 cup parsnips, diced
1/4 teaspoon gram masala
1/4 teaspoon tarragon leaves
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
32 oz vegetable broth
4 oz sour cream
pumpkin seed oil - kernol

1­ – In a stock pan, add pureed butternut squash, gram masala¸ and 8 oz of vegetable broth; simmer while other vegetables are cooking.

2 – In a soup pan, add rest of vegetable broth, celery, onion, carrots, parsnips, tarragon leaves, and salt. Simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables are soft (not crunchy and not mushy). Add parsley and cook for 2 minutes.

3 – Mix the squash from stock pan into the vegetable mixture and season to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes. Thin soup if too thick.

4 – Add 1/3 cup of sour cream, mix and let rest for 3 minutes.

5 – Serve the soup hot and garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a swirl of Kernol – pumpkin seed oil.

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Pureed butternut squash

Laura chopping onions

Laura & Jim stirring the pots

Chopping the fresh parsley

Vegetables simmering in broth with parsley

Mix together the pureed squash and vegetables

Tasting the results!






Serve with a garnish of sour cream,
pumpkin seed oil and parsley

Laura and Jim, thank you both for sharing your creative cooking skills with us. The soup was simply delicious!!! They say food brings people together and I’m glad we had this time together. You are fun people to be with!

The thought for the week-

Making real, lasting change is like plowing a path.

The more you use it, the easier it gets.

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Happy souping until we meet again!

Souper Sarah

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Here is Laura's bio that she wrote for me - I'm sure you will enjoy it!

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I grew up in Otisco Valley on 60+ acres of land which was my "play ground". I love the outdoors and love to roam around wherever my feet decide to take me. This ensures that no experience is ever the same, thus keeping my roaming adventures unique and exciting.
I tend to cook the same way. No soup has ever been made the same way twice. Instead of viewing as tried and true, recipes are used as guidance only. Just as with my nature walks, every creation is a unique variation on a common theme. Each is based on my intuition in the moment. I start out with a broad idea and a few basic ingredients in mind, but how they all come together, the quantities and ultimate flavor, is based upon creatively answering questions along the way. What base do I use?, what texture do I want?, what viscosity do I want?, what is missing?, what would enhance the flavor?, what is in my pantry, garden or refrigerator that would go well in it?, and is it complete or does it need one more thing? Each time the answer may be different and therefore the end result is never the same, providing our taste buds with an endless array of delightful experiences.

I also take pleasure in my flower beds - creating, designing, maintaining, and enjoying the display, beauty, and fragrance. It's no wonder Spring is my favorite time of year. My husband, Jim is the vegetable gardener. He enjoys planting, tending, watching, and harvesting his vegetables. He takes great pleasure out of being able to put food on the table without having to make a trip to the grocery store.

During the day, I work out of my home for Oracle, Inc in a finance roll supporting a sales team that sells into Higher Ed, Healthcare, and State & Local Government. I was employed by Sun Microsystems for 22 years prior to the company being acquired by Oracle. Jim also works from home. He is self employed as a money manager. He has had his business, Infinity Asset Management, LLC (IAM), for 7 years. Prior to that he worked for AG Edwards as an Investment Broker.

We both share the role of creative cooking in our household.

Our Harvest Moon Squash Soup was created in the kitchen of and with the assistance of Souper Sarah and her Souper Hubby, Eric. We created the recipe as we went along. The parsnips were added in answer to the question "what is in Sarah's pantry, garden or refrigerator that would go well in it? That proved to be a very tasty addition. The squash was baked in the oven instead of cooked on our wood stove as is our usual custom. Thus the squash was a little drier than normal yielding a thicker soup. For those of you who like a thinner soup, feel free to experiment by adding additional broth, milk, some half and half or some H2O if it turns out a little thicker than you like.