A life of indulgence

I love food, have I ever mentioned that before? I do, I'm surprised I don't weight 500 pounds yet but there is still time.

So today I made myself some of my very favorite soup. Butternut squash soup along with one of my favorite salads pear and bleu cheese. I usually make my an easy loaf of french bread but I was gone all day so that didn't happen. Here are some pictures and recipes.

This recipe is from Cooks.com

Roasted Hazelnut and butternut squash soup

1 med. butternut squash (acorn squash or fresh pumpkin)

1sm onion chopped

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup whole roasted hazelnuts ( almonds, walnuts, or pecans) I use pecans

1qt. chicken broth

1cup whipping cream (I use half an half)

white pepper

salt

fresh grated nutmeg

Sour cream

1/4 cup coarsely chopped roasted nuts

Halve squash lengthwise; remove seeds. Place cute side up in shallow baking dish. Bake in 400 degree oven for 1 hour or until soft. Don't add water. Scoop out pulp; set aside. In a large saucepan, cook onion in butter until tender. Sir in squash and 1/2 cup nuts. Sir in broth. Cook over medium low heat for 30 minutes. Transfer about 1/4 of soup to blender container. Cover; blend smooth. Repeat with remaining soup. Return to saucepan. Stir in cream (or half and half) and season with some white pepper, nutmeg and salt. Bring just to boiling. Remove from heat. Season to taste. Ladle into bowls, topping with a dollop of sour cream and some remaining nuts. 8-10 servings.

I like it even with out the sour cream but this is a rich soup and very yummy. Everyone I've fed it to is always impressed.

My salad is simple. I usually buy a bag of baby spinach and mix it with green leaf or red leaf. Crumble desired amount of blue cheese on top ( a little goes a long way) chop some green onion and add on top and then add on chopped red pear. I like to serve this with 1/2 cup roasted pecans too. Yum yum yum. I'm in love.

So there you have it my fine friends, one of my favorite indulgences. Did I mention that I also ate a piece of left over chocolate pumpkin cheesecake. Yeah I know. I'm working out tomorrow. I promise. :)