Autumn Squash Soup and "Hocus Pocus"

Take a look around your grocery store and farmers markets this time of year and I’m willing to bet you’re going to find more squashes than you know what to do with. Acorn, butternut, spaghetti, and of course pumpkin are just a few. I have a fantastic recipe for you that will turn roasted pumpkin and butternut squash into a creamy and delicious Autumn squash soup. Slightly sweet and savory, this soup is perfect for those chilly autumn nights.

This recipe is going to make a lot of soup, enough to serve at least 8 to 10 people. But I love making a big batch while the squashes are in season, inexpensive, and readily available. Don’t worry about any leftovers – it freezes really well!

Autumn Squash Soup

1 Medium sized pumpkin

2 Medium sized butternut squash

1 Large or 2 medium Yams

2 carrots

2 medium yellow onions

4 cloves of garlic

2 large apples (peeled and cored)

¼ cup of brown sugar

2 tablespoons of honey

3 14.5oz cans of vegetable stock

1 stick of butter at room temperature

Extra virgin olive oil (about ¼ of a cup)

2teaspoons of salt

1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

A pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

1 quart of half and half

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

Start by peeling the pumpkin, the carrot, the apples, the yam, the onions, and the butternut squash. Cut the pumpkin and squash in half down the middle so you can scoop out the seeds and “gunk” inside. Cut the yams, pumpkin, carrots, and the squash into pieces that are as close in size as possible, this will ensure an even cooking time. Toss into a large mixing bowl. Cut the onions into quarters and the do the same with the apples, reserve about half of an apple and half of an onion however as we’ll need them for later. Peel the cloves of garlic and toss into the bowl of squash along with the apples and the onions.

 To the bowl of vegetables - add the brown sugar, the honey, salt and pepper, the cinnamon, and ¾ of a stick of butter, and the olive oil and toss together. Clean hands are the best tool for doing this, get down in and there and get messy! Make sure everything is coated well – if not add a little more olive oil.

Dump everything out on a large baking sheet, you might actually need two. Just be sure that everything is in a single layer and not piled up on top of each other. Place the vegetables in the oven and roast for about one hour, checking on them every 10 to 15 minutes. This step may take more or less than an hour but the big thing here is to make sure everything is roasted until they are tender when pierced with a fork. Once everything is nice and roasted, take out of the oven and set aside. (You may notice there is celery on my baking sheet in the picture. The reason it's not in the recipe is I found even when blended the celery was still stringy so I chose to omit it)

Remember the half of onion and apple we saved? Dice both of them and sauté in a large stock pot with the rest of the butter we didn’t use from before. You want to do this over medium low heat and stir often for about 10 minutes. After sautéing the onions and apples, add the vegetable stock to the pot and bring to a simmer. Carefully add the roasted vegetables into the pot and mix together along with the half and half and turn off the heat for now.

Take a whisk or a hand held potato mashers and start crushing the roasted vegetables. We’re going to add the soup to a blender or food processor in a moment but doing this just gives the process a little head start. Ladle out a few scoops of soup and pulse the mixture until it’s very smooth. Do this in small batches until all of the soup is creamy and smooth. Bring the soup back up to a simmer, add the fresh nutmeg, and give one final stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper and dinner is served! Or…

Who doesn’t love a grilled cheese with soup?? I sure do and here is a gourmet twist on the classic grilled cheese! Take your bread of choice, butter one side of each like any grilled cheese, put a few slices of sharp white cheddar, thinly sliced apple, and a few pieces of salty bacon or prosciutto. Grill to perfection in any pan or a panini press and this sandwich will go perfectly with our creamy Autumn squash soup.

Grilled Cheese and soup was one of my favorite meals as a kid. October itself always takes me down memory lane and the magic of being a kid. Tossing leafs into the air after our parents took the time to rake them into neat little piles and thinking about our Halloween costumes and all the candy we’d get trick-or-treating. While dinner might take more to the adult flavor pallet, no reason we can’t be kids again by watching a fun filled movie about Halloween - Hocus Pocus.

Hocus Pocus is a classic 1993 Disney movie starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson Sisters - three witches who are looking to steal the youth from the children of Salem. 300 years ago the, the sisters were hanged after sucking the life from a young resident of Salem. Now in the modern day, three teenagers will mistakenly bring the witches back to life. With the aide of cursed talking cat named Binks, They’ll have to find a way to stop Winnie, Mary, and Sarah Sanderson before they succeed in their evil plans 300 years in waiting. Hocus Pocus was one of my favorite childhood movies and one that hasn’t lost any glimmer to me as the years have passed. Better Midler gives one of her best comedic performances and it’s not a surprise this film is beloved by so many. Whether you’re remembering this film from your youth or discovering it for the first time – Hocus Pocus is agreat movie and one I’m sure you’re spell-bound to love!