When an early autumn walks the land and chills the breeze and touches with her hand the summer trees, perhaps you'll understand what memories I own.

i love my parent's garden!  it is so awesome to visit and leave with fresh, and free organic veggies.  the last time i ventured north i was blessed with a bounty of squash.  George picked me acorn, spaghetti and butternut from The Karpel Family Garden.  so my squash travelled about 80 miles from earth to table. yay!!
 i already baked an acorn squash the other night.  simple with a little olive oil, then seasoned with salt, pepper and of course a little brown sugar.  it was delicious and reminded me of mom.  but today it was the butternut squash's turn.
today was a cloudy, drizzly 43 degree day.  perfect to have the oven on and even more perfect for soup.  i perused the Internet for some inspiration.  i had some yummy organic gala apples in my fridge, along with some onions and celery.  all of those flavors sounded like they would go swimmingly with the butternut squash.  and yes, come to find out, they do!

roasted butternut squash and apple soup

1/2 butternut squash, seeded, peeled and chopped
1 organic gala apple, chopped
1 cup chopped onion, divided
1 cup chopped celery, divided
1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon No Chicken stock mixed with about 1 cup warm water
*spices (i eye-balled these, use your taste bud judgment!)
     Cajun seasoning (Emerils brand)
     cumin
     nutmeg
a pinch of rosemary and thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cube vegetable bouillon
fresh ground pepper
salt


preheat oven to 400 degrees.  in a deep baking dish, add the squash, apple, half of onion and celery.  season with spices, sprinkle with rosemary and thyme, place bay leaf on top.  pour water and stock mixture on top.  place in oven for 30-40 minutes, or until tender.

when squash is almost done, in a medium stock pot heat olive oil on medium heat, saute the remaining onions and celery until tender.  add vegetable bouillon with 2 cups water.  continue stirring until bouillon is dissolved.  spoon in the squash/apple mixture.  with a immersion blender, blend until soup is smooth. season with pepper, salt.

serve with 1 tablespoon of almond milk (or preferred choice of "cream') if you like.  i also garnished mine with a dash of cumin and a pinch of thyme.

this soup was filled with flavor and depth.  perfect for a crummy October day!