The sad sad news to bring up is that Dan and I had to put poor Daisy down. She was almost 12 years old and we discovered that she had a tumor in her abdomen and had cancer. She reached a point where she wasn't eating anymore, drinking like a horse, and could barely walk:( We knew it was time, she gave us the doggie sign that her time had come. On a nice note, her veterinarian is in town and he was willing to come over to our house, so she was comfy on lots of blankets and pillows and we were with her. She is missed dearly but we're doing alright around here. I love this picture of her, she was happiest on the farm hanging out with our chickens:
BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
-Pat of butter
-Carrots, sliced
-Celery, sliced
-Onion, chopped
-Butternut squash, skin and seeds removed and cut into 1" cubes
-Stock
-Salt and Pepper
1) Melt butter in pot over medium heat and then add chopped carrots, celery and onion. Cook approx 10 minutes until everything is fragrant and onions are carmelized.
2) Put cubed butternut squash on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
3) After veggies are fragrant add about a pint of chicken stock and salt and pepper. Brink to a boil and then down to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes while squash cooks (this will soften the carrots).
4) Once squash is cooks it will be nice and tender. Add this to the soup mixture and stir.
5) If you have an immersion blender, blend the soup and you're done! If not then remove pot from heat and ladel soup into a blender, blend until combined, and pour finished soup in a seperate pot (you will have to do this several times).
**You can more to the soup to jazz it up such as cream, dried herbs, cumin, curry, etc.