Butternut Squash Soup

In From the Kitchen, I share thoughts or stories surrounding food I cook and savour.

Happy to report that I cooked a big pot of soup that can be considered a success. I’ve been enjoying it for three meals now, and I still have leftovers. Despite having lived in North America for close to 15 years, I have not made anything with butternut squash until last weekend. In my head, I’ve labelled it the posh kalabasa. When my mom wanted to get rid of hers (bought by my brother, who had been instructed to buy a dinengdeng/pinakbet-suitable kalabasa), I took on the challenge of working with a new ingredient and taking on my soup weakness.

This is not a recipe post–I’m hardly qualified to make one. But in case you’re curious, it was especially easy to make. I sautéed the cubed squash with onions and garlic, let it cook in a quart of vegetable broth until tender, and then blended everything with my trusty handheld. I added some almond milk and a bunch of spices I didn’t get to track and measure. Surely, the hand blender was a huge help. The fairly varied spice drawer too. It makes a comforting dish–I say this even though I’m comforted by most kinds of food. I hadn’t expected it to taste nice.

And there you have it, an improvement of sorts. Something for me to celebrate in this world where improvement is so slow to take place. I hope you are finding yours, even in the simplest of things. If not, that’s okay too.