Autumn colors…AZ style.
After recently returning from a trip to Spain and Portugal to our bustling salon, I found myself in awe.
As you know, October marks one of the busiest times in salon life. We call it “being in season.” Getting back to work, I stood on the salon floor excited to start my day and see my team members and my clients. As the clients started arriving and sitting in my chair, the conversation started to turn from them asking about my trip to, “What are you doing for the holidays?”
Was it really that time again? I wasn’t gone very long.
I stood in the salon and a very warm feeling came over me. I have been getting my clients ready to be with their friends, families and co-workers for 34 years! WOW! I can literally tell you recipes that clients prepare over and over again and where they travel to to celebrate. What a great occupation I have!
My warm fuzzy feeling quickly turned to horror when I realized that my own family was traveling from California for the first time to stay with me and celebrate Thanksgiving. How will I get everything Ready in time? My work load is enormous! Should I re-do the guest room? They are vegetarians! I have never cooked such an important meal for vegetarians!
Toward the end of my day I was coloring the hair of one of my long- standing elderly clients who still hosts Thanksgiving dinner for about 50 people at her home. I have borrowed many recipes from her and she is an amazing woman. We were conversing about my frantic sense of wanting everything to be just perfect for my family’s visit. She just kept shaking her head at me. She then grabbed my wrist and said to me, “Your family is coming to see you, not to find out if everything is perfect.”
Now I am simply enjoying it all – sprucing things up around my home, planting my beautiful fall gardens and even testing out vegetarian recipes (I have gotten some great ones from my co-worker Forest). I am so excited for their arrival and I am hoping this could be the start of a new tradition. This weekend I am preparing one of my favorite fall soups and testing it out to see if it freezes and re-heats well.
Today, I’d like to share it with you.
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This makes a delicious soup for fall!
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Because all of the ingredients vary in flavor and intensity, I make it to taste.
Roast half a butternut squash in a 350 degree oven on an oiled baking sheet.
When the squash is soft to test with a fork, remove it from the oven and let it cool until you can handle it.
Scrape the squash into a food processor or powerful blender with one halved canned, chipotle pepper. Then add about one teaspoon per serving of fresh, soft, mild goat cheese, sautéed garlic and slightly browned sautéed onions.
Blend to the consistency you like by adding chicken stock (I will be using vegetable stock this year). Begin to start tasting the blended soup and adding salt until it meets your taste. Then begin adding more chilies until the heat level is just right for you. Heat it gently on low. I like to serve it with a little more cheese to stir in as a garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds.
Enjoy and have a blessed holiday!
Blog by Lauren Hart
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