Roasted Squash Soup Redux

Snow school, snow commute and snow work for me...well, even if it had been 70 degrees outside, I woulda been home because I had a (now-crowded) day off.

What's a woman to do with a hungry houseful for brekkie? Make scones of course. And hope to stave off the crankies until dinner.

I've been making these scones forever and it's really easy. And you get a twofer in this post.

Details?
Here goes:

-Preheat oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with a Silpat (or parchment paper).
-In the food processor, pulse 2 cups flour, 2T turbinado sugar, half t salt and 1T baking powder to 'sift.'
-Add a third cup cubed butter (unsalted...ONLY...don't need any other kind) and pulse til it looks like wet sand; add a beaten egg (large...ONLY...keeps recipes and the like standard) and most of 3/4 cup milk (I use 1 percent, any other would do too) ... leaving the rest to add if the dough doesn't come together 'cuz it's too dry...pulse until it whirls into a ball.
-Turn out to a floured surface, form into a ball and cut the ball in half.
-Flatten one half into a disk about a half-inch thick and cut into eight pie wedges; repeat with the other half and put them all on the baking sheet. They shouldn't touch, but they can be close to each other.
-Brush tops with melted butter and a sprinkling of turbinado sugar before popping 'em in the oven.
-12 mins later, yummy noises resound throughout the land.

I honestly can't tell you much of what happened between these recipes...maybe I was watching the cats watch the birds at the feeder; maybe I was encouraging the lads to finish their homework (encouraging is a nice word); maybe I was biding my time until the Olympics were on at 3p; or all of the above...I do remember that at some point though, four tummies started rumbling and I picked up where I left off the night before.

With a baguette thawing, the roasted butternut squash soup was back on schedule.

Details?
Here goes:

-Preheat oven to 425 (again!).
-Peel and cube one large or two medium butternut squashes and put onto a baking sheet with a cleaned leek (see 'Swee-ee-eat Inspiration...' entry for my washing method) white part only cut into half or so inch slices, four sprigs fresh thyme sprigs, four crushed garlic cloves.
-Toss with a good T olive oil, one and a half t turbinado sugar, salt and pepper.
-Pop in oven for about 35 mins, until the squash is soft and most pieces have a lovely crust on the edges.
-Meanwhile, heat 48 oz - a box and a half! - of chicken stock...I always use low-sodium...with a heavy shot of calvados or AppleJack, about a quarter t salt, lots of ground black pepper, about a t each dried sage and aleppo pepper flakes and about a half t freshly grated ginger. How do you grate ginger, you may ask...You keep a hand in a zip top plastic bag in the freezer so it lasts a looooooong time, and grate off what you need.
-Since the squash and broth are still cooking, start the garnish.
-In a small (6-inch diameter), non-stick omelette pan (Hey, it's what I have!) on low flame, put 1 t butter, a third cup dark brown sugar and a splash of water and when mostly melted, add a dash of salt, a dash of cayenne and a cup of pecan halves - or as many as can cover the pan bottom in about a single layer.
-Stir to coat the nuts with the sugar...and when well-covered, turn onto a 'slippery' plate and let cool in freezer for about 10 mins. [My 'slippery' plate was actually the baking sheet with Silpat I hadn't yet tossed in the dishwasher from the morning scones...so I'm either an unholy mess or resourceful reducer-reuser-recycler. While you may lean toward the former, I'm in PR, so I'm goin with the latter. Back to the food...]
-When the squash is done, turn everything - except the thyme stems!! - on the baking sheet into the simmering stock and heat for about 10 mins to bring the flavors together.
-Whip out your handy-dandy blender and puree the soup in batches.
-SAFETY NOTE (no, I'm not kidding): Pressure builds fast when you whirr hot things in a blender and that can lead to burned cook. Remove the center knob of your lid if you have one and keep the lid off if you don't; a clean, washable tea towel folded in quarters or so should cover the blender jar and will protect you and your kitchen from the hot liquid...Remember to open a tiny air hole (to let the steam pressure escape) when you turn on the blender.
-So when all's pureed and neither the cook nor the counter are orange, put the soup back in the pot to rewarm...stir in about a quarter cup heavy cream...ladle into bowls with a few of the candied pecans on top...
Oh, and use the baguette to sop up what the spoon can't reach.

Good thing the weekend is here!