Butternut Squash Soup

Well, it has been a really busy couple of weeks. I'll start with 2 weeks ago.
I made a quick trip up to the Salt Lake area the weekend of October 9th. My oldest grandson Braiden was going to be baptized on Saturday so I drove up after work on Friday and left early on Sunday morning. I am always surprised to see how much the Furlow/Frazier family can jam in one 16 hour day! There were 2 soccer games at the same time so I opted to go to Ethan's game because I was going to Braiden's baptism that afternoon. There is not much funnier than six 5 year olds playing soccer! Jen and Ryan then took Braiden to lunch so Denise and I took Katie, Lauren and Ethan to lunch. After the baptism, all the relatives came to Jen's house for dinner. I lost count but I'm pretty sure there were about 25 people at her house.
Jen has a big corner lot and all along the back of the yard she has a garden. Tons of tomatoes, zucchini, pumpkins, fruit trees etc. Ryan's sister Tenille helped herself to a bunch of ripe tomatoes for canning and Jen said that I could have a butternut squash. Since my butternut squash soup is one of my favorites, I was not going to say no! After walking around and around, the only squash I could see was a banana squash. A fine specimen, mind you, but not what I was looking for. She thought it was a butternut squash, (she apparently has never purchased one at the store!) but she said take is anyway. So I came home and purchased a butternut squash. Here is the first of my favorite butternut squash recipes.

Bon appetite and stay well until next time!

Butternut Squash Soup
8 servings (1 cup each)
Saute in 2 tablespoons olive oil and unsalted butter:
1 cup onion, diced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 teaspoon minced fresh sage
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Stir in; add:
1/4 cup brandy
8 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1" chunks
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
Finish with:
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion, garlic, sage, sugar, pepper flakes and cinnamon in oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat. Cook until onion is soft, about 10 minutes.
Stir brandy into the onion mixture and cook for 1 minute; add the squash, broth and wine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, partially cover and simmer until squash is tender, about 20 minutes. Working in batches, puree soup in a blender. Return soup to the pot.
Finish soup with cream, salt and pepper.