Curried Butternut Squash + Apple Soup

Graduate school is hard.

Especially the way I do it. If all goes according to planned my third year will just be writing time and workshops if I want them (and maybe auditing great classes). I just finished my first year as a Master's student at the University of Kansas, which in and of itself involves teaching Freshman Composition MWF, which involves grading papers, which of course involves reading papers. And of, course, teaching, which involves making lesson plans. Which involves reading, understanding, and forming strong ideas about what they're expected to read (and most likely will skim). My first year also entailed taking 2 classes Tuesday and Thursday, and an extra class on Thursday. One of my classes involved reading a novel every 1.5 or 2 weeks. The other class involved writing a lot-- and reading what my fellow students had written. When I wasn't in class, Tues and Thurs mornings, I wrote from about 9 or 10 am until 12:30 or so. Oh and for most of the first semester I was also auditing French.

But now I have nothing but time.

I don't have a job this summer. To help earn my keep around here, I am the Non-Wife Housewife. I will do most of the cleaning, almost all of the food prep, laundry, and as it turns out, light gardening. It should look a lot like this:

If I'm being honest, however it looks a lot more like this:

And, of course, this:

And sometimes, especially because it's been incessantly rainy or too hot, I do a little of this:

And a WHOLE LOTTA this:

That right there is King Pigeon Pose. It's my goal pose. I haven't made much progress, on accounta all the MFA work. But I have a good feeling about this summer.

But this is not a yoga blog, or a blog about how my day consists of reading and going to the grocery store and then organizing the fridge. This is about food. Good food. Homemade.

And today's feature includes some asthma power foods:*

[*note: recipe not featured in this book]

Curried Butternut Squash + Apple Soup

If I've ever cooked for you, unless specifically told otherwise, odds are you've found something on the table that's been either curried or miso-ed. You call it weird, I call it heaven.

And here is what you'll need:

1 butternut squash

1 white onion

1 green apple

1 cup unsweetened apple juice

3 (or so) cups vegetable stock

2-3 tablespoons curry powder

1 teaspoon cumin (or coriander)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

parsley

salt and pepper to taste

You might be asking, wait, is that it?

Of course not. Too easy.

My sister gave me this book for Christmas, and I love it:

From this book I found a recipe for Cayenne Shortbread. And I love that too. To find it, you'll have to check the book out from the library, or buy it. Here is what you'll need, and a festive Christmas centerpiece with pine and cinnamon scented candles from Weston, Missouri.

shredded gruyere cheese

2 sticks of butter (seriously)

lots of cayenne

flour

salt and pepper

Blend the cayenne with the flour, and follow the recipe from there. This recipe is close to what I used. So beautiful:

You'll want to put that in the oven while you make the soup. It'll come out soft and harden a bit over time. So, the soup:

Chop the squash:

Peel and slice the green apple.

Cook the onion in a saucepan in olive oil until translucent. Add the chopped apple and squash. Add spices. Add the stock and cook until the apple and squash are soft (about 30 minutes).

Allow to cool a bit. Blend (in batches) until smooth. Add the brown sugar, and apple juice. Thin to desired consistency with apple juice.

Serve hot, sprinkled with parsley.

Oh, and don't forget the shortbread.