Boyfriend's Spiced Cider

Holy fall in a cup!

This past weekend, Boyfriend and I hosted eight of our closest friends at our tailgate at the Far Hills Race Meeting, known around these parts as "The Hunt." A phenomenal event, it's really an excuse for me to bust out my pearls and headband and have a classy tailgate in the beautiful fall weather. We always have the food catered (debating changing that for next year!), but Boyfriend wanted to make a hot, spiced cider for the cooler autumn morning.

We served this piping hot with Laird's Apple Jack on the side in case our guests wanted to make it more...festive. (They did.) It was amazing, and I know we'll make this again for years to come! 

Ingredients

3-6 cinnamon sticks
20 cloves
Pinch each of: nutmeg (make this one a generous pinch!),allspice
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
Optional: orange rings 

Directions

Put 2-3 half gallons of cider into the crock pot on high. About 15 minutes later, when it's nice and warm, add the brown sugar and spices. If you're using oranges, add them on top. We covered ours and left it on "keep warm" overnight, but you can also leave this on low for ~4 hours or high for ~2 hours. This is wonderful however you serve it-- just be sure to remove the cinnamon sticks and cloves first!

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Is there anything better than the fall weather? I love this time of year! I love the cool air at night, the slowly changing leaves, the smell of the outdoors, the allure of apple picking and the beginning of soup season! As anyone who has ever worked with or even met me knows, I could live off of soup!

One of my "52 Weeks of New Food" recipes for 2012 was Roasted Butternut Squash Soup. I hit the farmer's market, picked up everything I needed and got to cooking!

But...I decided to take a shortcut. Cutting butternut squash is a pain! So I decided to make it easier on myself by pricking it with a knife and putting it in the microwave for ~10 minutes to soften it. When I went to open the microwave door, the squash lept out of the microwave! By some small miracle, it landed in the crock pot in my counter, avoiding spraying orange goo all over my kitchen.

Anyway, I salvaged the squash, and cut it down into about 5 cups of chunks. I tossed the squash with 1 Tbsp of olive oil and roasted at 400 for 30 minutes until it was soft and roasted.

The result was delicious! Roasting the squash gives it a deeper flavor, but you can skip that step if you really want. Try my recipe below, but be careful of flying squash!








Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil or butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 4-5 cups of roasted butternut squash
• 4 cups of chicken broth (you can use more if you like more thin soup, this is fairly thick)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (I used half and half) 
• 1 tsp fresh sage, chopped (plus more for garnish)
• Salt to taste

Directions 

Heat the olive oil or butter in a large soup pot on medium high heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, only about 2 minutes.Add the sage and give a quick stir.

Dump in the squash and then add the broth. Simmer for about an hour, until the squash is soft. Once the squash is soft, use an immersion blender (or a real blender if you don't have one) to puree the soup until it's thick and combined.

Add the heavy cream or half and half and adjust the seasonings to taste. If you want a thinner soup, add some additional broth at this step.

Serve piping hot in pretty bowls and garnish with additional sage. A perfect fall treat!