The Butternut Squash Project

 This summer I took a Photoshop class from the local college.  I learned a ton of cool things and I hope I remember them. It was a short quarter and we went fast and my brain hasn't been in school for quite some time.  Plus, I have to say that I was also taking an HTML programming class that was really hard. 

My final project for my Photoshop class involved turning food into architecture.  So when I went to the store and looked at all the vegetables and fruit the butternut squash caught my eye.  Here is what it started out looking like.

I bought it and took it home and then began the process of using every technique I had learned to turn it into a guard shack at a park. Other food items were used also like eggs, cabbage and a Ritz cracker. Lots of fun!

Then school was done and the squash sat on my counter for a couple of weeks

until today when a recipe card came in the mail from the store I bought the squash from for

 " Spiced apple and butternut squash soup".

YUM!

I had no idea that butternut squash was so much like pumpkin but it is. 

Anyway, the soup was delicious and easy too. 

If you want to try it yourself here is the recipe:

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 large onions, diced

2 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored & diced

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 butternut squash, peeled, halved lengthwise and seeded removed, diced into 1 inch cubes

3 quarts chicken stock

Salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. 

Add the diced onions and apples, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the spices, cook for 1 minute, and then add the squash and chicken stock.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until the squash is tender, about 20-30 min.

Puree and serve

Add additional stock, if necessary, to desired thickness. 

Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

serves 6-8

I only had one squash so I just adjusted the amount into 1/4th. 

Refrigerate any leftovers. ( if you have any ha, ha!)

Hope you all had a fun summer