Golden Hues

I recently acquired a very beautiful Butternut Squash. My first thought was to make a pasta with roasted Butternut, gorgonzola, and penne pasta. But I love soup more than pasta. I searched the web for inspiration and saw a recipe titled Roasted Butternut Squash Soup. So I thought, sure I can do that.

1 medium Butternut, peeled well and cubed
3 Shallots, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 inch piece of Ginger, peeled and chopped into chunks

2 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 teaspoons Salt
2 cups Chicken Stock
1/4-1/2 cup Milk
cracked pepper to taste
3 slices Apple Wood Bacon, diced small

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
On a rimmed baking sheet place butternut, shallots and ginger. Drizzle with olive oil and salt. Roast in oven for 1 hour.
Let cool for 10 minutes.
In a small fry pan place bacon and render on medium low. Once crispy drain on paper towel.
Put roasted goodness into a blender with chicken stock. Blend well. Add milk and puree until smooth.
Strain mixture through strainer pushing mixture though with spatula into a medium pot. Simmer for 10-15 minutes and add pepper as needed. Garnish with bacon bits.

 Around Christmas time I asked the general Facebook population what their favorite holiday cookie is. I was actually very surprised to see that so many people said it was Snickerdoodles. For me I always thought of this light tasty cookies as a summer treat. This reminded me of a cookies in my repitoire called a Honeydoodle. And here goes.

1/3 cup Butter
2/3 cup Honey
3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg
1 1/2 cup Flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter and honey together. Add baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Add egg. Add flour.

In a small bowl combine 3 tablespoons Sugar and 3 teaspoons Cinnamon.

I scoop my cookies with a teeny ice cream scoop and drop the sticky dough into the sugar mixture. Then place on a baking sheet. Do not place cookies too close together but they should rise up more than out. Bake only 8-10 minutes.