welcoming october

Today I welcomed October by:

• Paying rent (and they all rejoiced!)
• Bringing out my fall/winter clothes and putting away most of my summer clothes. This time of year leads to a shortage of hangars in my house. I also cleaned out more clothes. Isn’t it amazing that we seem to be able to always get rid of something in our closets? But at the same time, I have pieces that I just can’t get rid of even if I don’t wear them too often.
• Putting this beautiful wreath on my door. I love it because it has asymmetry and some bling on it too. Everything needs a little somethin’ somethin’ once in a while.

• Shopping for some new colors of fall yarn – I got a mustard yellow and gray – in a soft wool
• Making butternut squash soup! – This is our family favorite! We make it AT LEAST every Sunday in Sept, Oct, and half of November. We have used corn and shredded chicken to change it up.

lbs of butternut squash (about 2 squash)
2 - 8 oz packages of cream cheese
2 cups apple juice
5 cups water
1 apple peeled, cored, and chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cube butter
5 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 tsp Marjoram
1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper
Pepper and salt
Half squash horizontally and clean leaving in skins. Put on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, black pepper, and course salt. Bake at 350* for an hour.
In a large pot, sauté onions in butter over medium heat. Add apple juice, water, the apple, bouillon, Marjoram, Cayenne pepper, and ground pepper and salt. Remove squash from skins and put squash in the soup. Let boil for 20 minutes.
Puree soup in blender (be careful, it's hot!) with cream cheese. Return to stove and heat through...
We served ours with French bread... you could also get some great soup bowls. It made enough for about 8 bowls. Enjoy!

What are you doing to welcome in October?