butternut

one Sunday each month, my aunts, cousins, mother, and myself get together to play Bunco.  We meet at a different house each month, and this month it was my turn to host.

last week, J from work brought me some more vegetables from her garden.  One of the things she brought me was a big squash.  I hadn't ever made anything with a squash before, so I decided I would attempt soup on Sunday for Bunco.

after reviewing some recipes online, I picked this one because it looked simple and was rated well. 

I followed it.  sort of.

I needed at least 8 servings and didn't pay attention to how much squash I would need for this recipe before I went to Harmons to get more squash.  I bought one more large one, and one smallish one. 

so I had about this much squash:

I cut them in half, scooped out the seeds, and then used the butter, white pepper, and kosher salt like the recipe says, but I didn't measure anything.  Then I roasted them flesh side up.  I did 400 degrees for 35 minutes, but they weren't soft enough, so I left them in the oven for an additional 15 minutes.

(not my picture, I forgot to take pictures, so I stole it from here)

then I scooped the flesh out with an ice cream scoop, and put it into the pot with the vegetable stock, ginger, and honey.  I didn't measure anything again.  Actually, I'll be honest... I didn't measure any of the ingredients.  I think measuring is only important for baking... 

*also, I was really frantic and running behind, and at one point all three of the things I was making weren't going the way I planned, and 7 lovely women who love me and weren't even paying attention to what was going on in the kitchen were at my house (which in the moment in my perfectionist, irrational world translates to: it's the end of the universe and it's all my fault! and 1,000,000 people are watching me and waiting for me to fail! )*

...so I was just throwing stuff into the pot.

I tried (unsuccessfully) to "puree" the squash by mashing it.  It didn't work, so I ran the whole thing through the Cuisinart a little at a time.  Then it simmered and I eventually added some amount of heavy cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, then let it simmer some more. 

eventually, that pot was filled with something that resembled soup... and it tasted good!

It was really filling, and really worth the effort.

I decided I need to continue to be brave, and keep making things I've never made, because even if it's not successful, it's rewarding.  I also need to be kind to myself about the learning curve with cooking.  

I should have also mentioned that my mom was a tremendous help, and I would not have survived yesterday without her. 
Thanks, Moo.