Curry & Coconut Butternut Squash Soup

This is the perfect recipe for a cold fall day. Like today. The first day it's been around 60 degrees in Denver.  It's finally feeling like sweater and boot season!  Although, they say it will be almost 80 again later this week.  

I've never actually made a soup before but it was surprisingly easy. 

What you need:
1 medium butternut squash, split in half with the seeds removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 (14 oz) coconut milk
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds with a spoon.  Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle one teaspoon of salt on the halves of the butternut squash. Place them cut side down on a cookie sheet and roast for 30-45 minutes. 

After the squash is done let it cool while you saute 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, carrots, and onions to a soup pot. Then add the coconut milk, vegetable stock, curry, garam masala, cumin. Next add the butternut squash. 

Having never made soup with a butternut squash before I looked this part up. Yes, you can just cube the squash and add it with the skin to the soup.  If you prefer you can use a vegetable peeler or knife to cut around the skin. 

Bring the pot to a boil then let it simmer for about 15 - 20 minutes. While you're waiting, occasionally mash the squash with a wooden spoon.  This is when the soup smells absolutely delicious! After the 15 minutes use a blender to smooth the soup.  

Mummy Cookies

Need a treat you can make quickly and take to a Halloween party? I've got just the recipe for you! I found this idea on Pinterest from The Kurtz Corner and I was super excited to try it out. Everyone at work loved these so much I'm going to make them again for our Halloween Party on Friday.  

What you need:

Pepperidge Farms Milano Cookies or other oblong shaped cookies
White chocolate chips or baking chocolate
Canola oil
Candy eyes from the baking section
Ziploc bag or frosting bag and small round tip


Directions:

Arrange the cookies on a plate or on aluminum foil. Make sure they are fairly close together so you waste only a little chocolate going cookie to cookie.

Place the chocolate chips in a saucepan on the stove on medium heat and add a teaspoon of oil to make the chocolate like a liquid. Keep stirring as the chocolate warms and add more oil as needed. Once all the chocolate is melted let it cool before pouring into the Ziploc bag. To easily pour the chocolate into the bag, grab a large plastic cup and insert the Ziploc and fold the edges over, as you would with a trash bag on a trash can.

Cut one of the corners of one of the Ziploc so it has a small hole to drizzle the chocolate on the cookies.  I put chocolate on a few cookies and then before it cooled added two candy eyes.  I also had to add a second layer of chocolate to a few of the cookies.

Puff Pastry Sandwiches

At a recent girls night I made these awesome Puff Pastry Sandwiches and they were a hit.  They are a bit messy because the pastry is flaky but they were delicious. And everyone liked having options for what kind of sandwich they had.

What you Need: 

Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry- thawed
Variety of lunch meat- thinly sliced
Variety of cheese slices
Condiments of choice- I used mayonnaise, mustard and pesto
Container of cherry tomatoes- full or halved
Toothpicks
Lettuce

Directions:

Thaw the puff pastry sheets according to the package directions (about 45 minutes).
Unroll the sheet onto a lightly floured work surface, then use a pizza cutter to cut the pastry into small squares.

Bake the little squares baking sheet lined with parchment paper at 400*F for 12-14 minutes. Once the pastry squares are baked and cooled, separate each square open (horizontally) to create a top and bottom piece of "bread" like a mini sandwich.

Spread a thin layer mayo, mustard or pesto sauce onto one side of the sandwich, then add a slice lunch meat and a slice of cheese. Top with matching pastry square. Finish the mini sandwiches with a cherry tomato and a toothpick to hold it all together.