Whoa! Are the holidays really over…that fast? All that work, cooking, cleaning, buying, tree or other significant symbol of celebration assembly efforts, decorating inside and outside, holiday parties, holiday lunches, family get togethers, eggnog and peppermint flavoured everything…is all gone? YES!! IT’S ALL GONE…isn’t it bliss?!? Don’t get me wrong, the first few weeks of festivities and prep alongside new falling snow and holiday tunes are bliss, but if someone were to offer me an eggnog today I would channel Sheldon from the “Big Bang Theory” and say “don’t you maniacs own a calendar??”
So now, not only has a page in the calendar turned, we have to put up a whole new one. I hope you got one for Christmas because if not, good luck hunting through the leftover retail bins to find that Thomas Kinkade you love and display in the kitchen every year. I’m afraid you may have to settle for “Space Views from the Hubble Telescope”. May be a score for someone, but maybe not you.
Once you get over the calendar debacle you will realize it’s a shiny new year with lots of new experiences ahead. And if you live in Canada or another frigid place to live in the winter, all efforts are focused on staying warm and cozy. What better way to stay warm and cozy then to put on those new luxurious reading socks your friend gifted you and settle in to a creamy, warm bowl of butternut squash soup!
You know that soup…the homemade one your foodie co-worker wearing that super soft new cowl neck sweater is warming up in the lunch room making everyone drool. You know you want that soup…and the sweater for that matter! Guess what? You can make it yourself! Very easily I might add. Here’s a family friendly recipe for this smooth and creamy dream of a butternut squash soup that everyone from baby to grandma will enjoy.
Ready…Set…Cook!
Family Style Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
Age – 8 months + (due to the addition of spices, but if you leave out the spices, 6 months +)
Ingredients
1 Butternut Squash
1 cup of chopped onions
1 garlic clove minced
1 ½ cups of homemade or low sodium chicken broth
¼ cup of 10% (half and half) cream
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. cumin
¼ tsp. black pepper
Baby Steps
Peel, seed and chop squash into approx. 1” cubes.
Place squash in steamer over boiling water and cook for approx. 15 minutes until tender. Set aside.
Meanwhile, chop onions and garlic.
Add butter to a large soup pot and melt over medium heat.
Add onions and garlic to butter and cook until translucent, approx. 3 – 4 minutes.
Add steamed squash to soup pot along with chicken broth and ½ cup of the water used to steam the squash.
Add in coriander, cumin and black pepper and cook over medium low heat for 10 minutes, stirring often.
Remove from heat and puree with a hand held blender until you achieve a smooth, soupy consistency.
Place pot back over medium heat and stir in the cream. Cook for 2 more minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool for several minutes.
Ladle out for a family meal and freeze the rest in freezing trays for baby to be used within 3 months.
Makes A lot! – Approx. 36 baby servings (2 tbsp. each) so it’s best to make for baby and the family to enjoy together. It would be too much to freeze and use up within 3 months unless you have at least 4 hungry babies in the house at all times.
Tip – Adults can add a bit more salt and pepper to taste, and a few drops of hot sauce to their individual bowls to give it an added kick!
This recipe is also in the new cook book Spoonfed – Real Food for Real Babies which you can get from our product page! There’s a multitude of fresh, homemade meal ideas for babies 6 months through until over 12 months all together and organized in a pretty little package that you can keep in your kitchen at the ready whenever the mood strikes.
So there you have it…give the recipe a try and bring your own dreamy soup into the lunchroom at work tomorrow. Can’t help you with the cowl neck sweater though…there’s always next Christmas…get it on your list!