Halloween and a Soup Recipe!

I know I'm a few days late now, but I want to recap our Halloween.  We had so much fun!  On the 24th we went to a party at our very dear friend's house.  All the kids were dressed up, but I was the only mom in costume!  I don't know why this keeps surprising me.  I get really into Halloween and dressing up is my favorite part.  I decided early on that I wasn't spending any money on our costumes.  Silas is still little and we have so much fabric and costume accessories I wanted to work with what we've got.  I went as a witch and Silas went as an "imp."  I didn't get any good pictures though!  The actual day of Halloween we woke up to a little snow!  It was snowing big, fluffy flakes and was cold!  It didn't stick though and quickly warmed up, but not much!  When trick or treating started it was so windy and cold I kept waffling about whether or not to take Silas out and what kind of "costume" to put on him.  His imp costume was just a cut up old tee shirt, but it was too cold for that.  I ended up taking him in his regular clothes and coat with his bear hat on his head.  We went to 5 houses.  He's 17 months old, so he doesn't really care, you know?  I just knew the neighbors would miss him if they didn't see him so I have to do right thing and give people their dose of adorable.  My husband hates when I say things like that.  Says I sound conceited. 

Pretty and festive!  

I whipped up this soup on Halloween morning on a whim.  We grew butternut squash in our garden this year and I'm trying to use it up.  Sometimes I just slice it, bake it and feed it to the gentlemen, but I thought a nice warm soup would be good for us to eat on a chilly Friday.  I had already baked off a squash so this came together fast!  If you want to make this you will have to cut your squash in half, lay cut side down on a baking sheet, and bake until soft.  Depending on the size of your squash it may take a half hour to an hour.  I made a really small batch because I wasn't sure if we would like it.  Well, I have made it 3 times since, so needless to say, we like it a lot! 

Butternut Squash Soup

• 1 precooked butternut squash, skin peeled off.

• 2 tablespoons butter or olive or coconut oil, you can use less if you want, but I wanted our soup to be rich so I used butter.

• 1-2 tablespoons minced garlic, we're scared of vampires so we use lots of garlic.

• Spice, I used about 3 teaspoons of Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning.  This comes in a grinder bottle and contains salt, mustard seeds, black pepper, coriander, onion, garlic, paprika and chili pepper.  If you don't have this blend you could simply use salt, pepper, onion, maybe a little nutmeg or cinnamon?  Nutmeg would be tasty. 

• Water or milk to thin the soup.

Melt the butter in a large pot.  Add the garlic and saute on medium until fragrant and lightly browned.  Add in your spices and stir.  Add the squash, and milk or water.  You may want to turn the heat up a little if you're in a rush.  I used my immersion blender to blend everything together into a really smooth soup.  The first time I used only water, but today when I made it I used whole milk and my goodness, it was so rich.  Perhaps a little too rich.  Butternut squash bisque, if you will. 

How was your Halloween?  Do you like butternut squash soup?  Do you have other ideas for using it up?