A Great Fall Soup

I come from a family of soup lovers. This one is delicious and fairly inexpensive. Oven roasting gives the vegetables great flavor. If you're using dried thyme, cut the amount in half. Thyme is a good herb in many soups.

1 medium butternut squash
2 sweet potatoes
1 T. olive oil
2 carrots, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 T. butter
5 C. chicken stock
1 T. fresh thyme
1/8 t. fresh nutmeg
1/2 C. light cream
salt & pepper

Cut squash in half, remove seeds, then cut into wedges. Scrub potatoes. Brush squash and potatoes with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in preheated 350 oven till very soft, about 1 hour & 15 minutes. Cool until vegetables can be handled. Scoop flesh into bowl and mash slightly. Saute carrots and onion in butter about 5 minutes. Add stock, thyme,nutmeg and simmer 10 minutes until carrots are soft. Add squash mash and simmer 10 minutes. Cool. Puree soup in batches in blender. Return soup to medium heat, stir in cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped chives.

Lucy loves to dawdle on her walks. Actually, she likes to smell every square inch that she covers, especially in the morning when she enjoys all the leftover smells from the animal excursions of the night before. She watched squirrels running in the trees for about 5 minutes one day. She smelled the neighbor's alpacas (Cloverleaf Alpacas) and thought they were interesting. She always looks up when geese fly over.

You're always working ahead in the greenhouse biz. I've already ordered little starter plants for next spring. Next up are seed orders. In just a couple months, I'll start seeds for the spring season.