Soup tonight tonight.....

Its Tuesday - it's soup night (or soup tonight tonight as my 4 year old friend Quinn likes to call it and which we have adopted as a great moniker).
For the last 6 or so years (actually more I think) we have had a small group of young couples from our church come over to our house. It started as a bible study but then the couples went forth and multiplied (as well they should) and some of the most adorable babies on earth arrived. So we added a meal to start the evening (we remembered well what it was like to have young kids and get a meal on the table and then get out to something in the evening).
The meals have mostly been soup (except for the summer months - then we made paninis - but that is another blog) and mostly been made by my husband Allan with me as the mostly helpful sous chef and provision getter (aka bread and dessert buyer).  From time to time (when our lives get really hectic) some of the peeps (12 adults 9 kids) bring the bread or the dessert..... and for now we just have a community meal together and have conversation and hand babies around and admire lego creations and visit.  Its a sort of lovely chaos over a bowl of excellent soup.  And on a wet and snowy night like tonight its the perfect thing.
Tonight we are having an old faithful - Curried Butternut soup - with fresh bread and we are cleaning my house out of Christmas candy and treats for dessert (so as to save me from them).

I am seldom happier than when this house is full of happy, well fed, friends and their gorgeous children.

Allan’s Amazing Soup
(aka Curried Butternut Squash Soup)

For 8 servings:
Ingredients:
6 cups of vegetable stock
3 cups chopped butternut squash
1 small onion, chopped
1 large potato, cubed
1 bay leaf
1 tsp brown sugar
curry powder, to taste
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 cup cream
¼ cup fresh chopped parsley

Directions:
1.    In a large pot, bring the stock to the boil.
2.    Add the squash, onion, potato, bay leaf, sugar, curry powder, basil, oregano, cinnamon, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
3.    Continue boiling until the squash and potato are tender.
4.    Discard bay leaf.
5.    Puree the soup with a hand blender or in a food processor.
6.    Gently fold in cream and parsley and serve.

Butternut simmering with the herbs and spices

We had to buy a bigger pot!

The process - blending all the veggies = creamy soup

Yummy soup!