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!

Best laid plans of Moms of men...

...are often blown out by wind.

Lo and behold, the latest snow 'event' to hit the NYC/Philly metro area...

[OK, let me pause for two secs:
-event, because I'm tired of 'snowmageddon, snowicane, blizzarama' etc; and
-NYC/Philly metro area, because my neck of Central Joisey is smack-dab in the middle and I get weather reports for Gotham AND BrotherlyLove.]

...came later than expected. So my favorite mixologist was already home, chilling the martini glasses and anticipating my return so he could make the 'tini he fantasized about on the commute home.

As a snowy eve practically cries for soup, I thought I'd make a roasted butternut squash concoction that got rave reviews a few weeks ago.

Yay! I got home, John shook a magical martini garnishing it with an unconventional cornichon, and I set to peeling and cuttin up the squash...I preheat the oven, put the squash to roast, set the timer and plopped on the couch to enjoy my men, martini and the US v. Canada women's gold medal hockey game...

...and the electricity promptly went out. No problem, I thought. It's a gas oven, right? While the guys found and lit candles and turned on the fireplace (yeah, it's gas too), I reset the alarm on my cell for the squash...

...a little kvetching, a little silliness, and whaddya know, the timer went off ... and so had the oven. No squash. Nevermind how I would've pureed it if it were ready.

Time to ring our favorite neighborhood haunt...and YES! the Tail had power.

And so did we at this point, but we were Tail bound! (and the squash was in the fridge, prepped for Friday's soup).

Besides, it was snowier on Friday!

(Oh, and if you're keepin track, the US ladies took home the silver...Yay Us, Yay Them!)