Hello, neighbor! (guest post)

Say hello to my upstairs neighbor, Sabine:

She's always doing or making something interesting, and I've been asking her to write some things for Sweet Heartland. She did, so please welcome my first guest blogger!
So exciting!

Here's Sabine:

In the kitchen: squash in a mug

This is the ideal dinner for a cozy fall evening. Yes, it's fall alright, but the temperature is also in the upper eighties –which makes you want to eat ice-cream sandwiches for dinner instead of wintery warm soups.  Nonetheless, this recipe is a winner and I will keep it in my recipe box for whenever fall really 

decides to start.   

Matt came over to join us for dinner since his lady was out of town, partying it up in Cleveland.  He bought some local sodas which were delicious and refreshing.  My favorite was the pineapple cilantro soda; it was sweet, sparkly with an ever so slight hint of cilantro. 

 You can find more information about the sodas here.

This soup is great for little ones too and tastes even better the next day. My almost 2 year old loves it. Although I have to add a disclaimer here since she also loves sparkling water and olives- perhaps not part of most 2 year old diets. 

Bon appétit!

-SH

I followed the recipe listed here, making a few additions along the way.  I added cinnamon, allspice, cayenne pepper and nutmeg to spice it up a bit.  I also roasted the squash on a cookie sheet with a little bit of water, cut side down, in a 375 F preheated  oven for 40 minutes prior to cooking it on the stovetop with the rest of the veggies.  This made the nuttiness of the squash hit an all-time high and it makes it so much easier to peel and cube the squash as well.  The best part of trying out this recipe was that I got to use my immersion blender.  I could not believe how easy it was to use and how smooth the soup came out.  Also, the clean-up (my least favorite part of making dinner) was a breeze.  

The soup was served with grilled cheese sandwiches using extra sharp Tillamook cheddar cheese and Shatto butter (a local favorite of mine and apparently in the top 10 of best butters in the world). The most important rule you have to follow when making the perfect grilled cheese sandwich is “slow and steady”. 

 Squash in a mug recipe (modified from here)

2 tablespoons of butter

1 onion chopped

1 stalk celery chopped

3 carrots chopped

1 apple chopped

1 butternut squash peeled, seeded and cubed

32 fl ounce of chicken stock

Salt, pepper to taste

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice

¼ cup of heavy cream

Garnish: some chopped up basil.  I normally also like to drizzle in a little bit of greek yoghurt or sour cream on top of the soup but I didn’t have any at home.