Butternut soup

 

This recipe does not use cream or milk in it, yet it still seems quite rich even though there is very little fat in it. We were naughty and added a dollop of sour cream, but it doesn't really need it. So far it's my favorite squash soup recipe. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

2 medium potatoes, cubed

1 medium butternut squash - peeled, seeded, and cubed

1 (32 fluid ounce) container chicken stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

 

Directions:

1 Gather all ingredients.

2 Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat, and cook onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and squash until lightly browned, about 5minutes. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables.

3 Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer until all vegetables are tender, about 40minutes.

4 Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth. Return to the pot, and mix in any remaining stock to reach desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

5 Serve hot and enjoy!

Pumpkin Shortbread Creamcheese bars

These pumpkin bars are excellent. I'd have a picture but we already ate them.  

Ingredients:
Base and Topping:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/3 cups sugar - I substitute the 1/3 cup with brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, melted
2 large eggs

Filling:
8 ounces softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar (I use brown sugar)
1 large egg
1 can 15 ounce pumpkin puree (I use 2 cups of cooked pumpkin)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:
1.Preheat oven to 350 F

2.Make the dough:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Add melted butter and eggs. Beat for about a minute until crumbly dough forms.

3. Bake the base:
Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the dough for the top. Put the rest into a 9x13 baking pan. We line the pan with 
parchment paper for easy cleanup. Or you can grease the pan. Press the dough into the pan. 
Bake the base for 20 minutes.

4.Make the filling:
In a clean mixing bowl, add cream cheese, sugar and egg. Beat about 2 minutes until smooth. 
Add pumpkin, vanilla, nutmeg, salt and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and beat until well mixed. 

5. Assemble the bars"
Spread filling over the cooked base. Crumble the reserved dough over the filling. 
Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon over the top. 

6.Bake:
Bake until a knife comes out clean - about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool to room temperature -
about two hours. Chill before cutting into bars.