Roasted butternut squash soup and nutmeg muffins

Today, the weather outside is again frightful so I made roasted butternut squash soup and nutmeg muffins. These nutmeg muffins are my favorite hands down, and I’ve profiled them several times before. Here’s the gluten-free nutmeg muffin recipe.

My favorite gluten-free flour

I now use Cup4Cup gluten-free flour because it’s my preferred gluten-free white flour substitute. They also make a gluten-free wholesome flour that is a good sub for whole wheat flour. Both flour blends were created by the chefs at Thomas Keller’s restaurants. The muffin recipe is adapted from Marion Cunningham’s book, The Breakfast Book.

The Marion Cunningham influence.

While I love all of Cunningham’s books, The Breakfast Book is my best-loved. A thousand years ago, I was a career girl, a legal assistant–just imagine me in a suit, stockings and heeled pumps–I know, it’s difficult for me too.

I worked all the time so the one meal I made every Saturday was breakfast. Cunningham taught me how to cook well, and I’ll always be grateful. She stressed buying the best and freshest ingredients which I think is the first step to becoming a great home cook.

How to make the roasted butternut squash soup

I based my butternut squash soup on this recipe from Cookie and Kate. Two things are brilliant about the recipe. First, put the cooled roasted squash in the blender, add room-temperature broth, and then whir it. That way, you aren’t blending hot liquid in the blender. Smart.

The second is how she cut the squash in half. Winter squashes are rather difficult to cut, and no one needs a trip to the emergency room on a bitterly cold and icy day.

A winter just like 1978

So far, 2022 is one of those winters where there’s bad weather every Wednesday. The last time I remember a winter like that was 1978, when I turned 16 and learned to drive. I had a red Firebird, and it was terrible in the snow and ice. Because I got lots of practice that winter, I became pretty proficient at driving on bad roads. I also carried kitty litter in my car because I was always getting stuck.

I had a lot of errands to do today. I’m still catching up on my own health appointments, but I moved them on down the road once the sleet moved in. We’re supposed to have more sleet or ice tomorrow morning. The current temperature is 10°F. That’s freakin’ cold.

I joined a CSA. I know you’re scratching your heads over that one.

I joined the Guilford Gardens CSA a few weeks ago, and I’m so glad I did. The vegetables are very fresh which is great. I always get plenty of farm-fresh eggs, and several times we’ve received home-cooked food in our baskets like tamales the other day. Call me silly, but I knew that if I joined a CSA I’d eat the vegetables because I can’t stand to waste something someone grew for me. It’s made me get creative in my kitchen too, which is good for my brain, as is eating more vegetables.

Cold outside, but warm indoors.

It may be frigid outside, but indoors there’s a fire in the fireplace, and more soup and muffins for later. I also have this fabulous spaghetti squash meal which I’ll probably have for dinner. I added hot Italian sausage to mine, but How Sweet Eats’ Baked Spaghetti Squash recipe is meat-free and a riff off of this one from Bon Appetit Magazine. Speaking of squash, I also made this healthy stuffed acorn squash for lunch the other day. It was good too. As you may have guessed, I get a lot of winter squash in my CSA this time of year. I also got some beets and new potatoes. Now, what to do with them?

If you’re needing something to do while you’re waiting for the ice to melt, Carol and I recorded another podcast episode this week. It was about the Four Stages of Gardening and Radishes. I know I’m partial, but I think our episodes are getting better and better.

Stay warm and be careful till we meet again.