First off - E is flying off to Canada today for a cancelled Bachelor Party in Montreal... wait, what?
An ex-co-worker of his is getting married November 1st... so when the best man approached E with the Bachelor Party plans (a weekend in Canada! Bus transportation + hotel room for cheap!) he was so down - he's never been to Canada and was excited, more so since his BIL (who knows no one of the group) agreed to come along (E also knows no one but the groom, and wanted a friend to be along for the trip...) BIL was excited as well, has also never been to Canada.
A few days after they booked their plane tickets (no HOURS-long busride into Canada for these two divas... lol) E got a text from the best man - not enough interest (basically none) was expressed for the Canada trip (i.e. the groom's friends all still live at home, sometimes hold jobs, and don't have the money to go to Canada).
And so the Montreal Bachelor Party was cancelled.
But the best part was that E and his BIL have non-refundable tickets....
When the best man text E with the new plans a few days later (Atlantic City, your go-to for Bachelor/Bachelorette parties in the north east...) E just shook his head and responded, "yea, sorry I won't make it - I'll be in Canada that weekend!" (AND THEN the best man had the nerve to still ask E to chip in for groom's expenses in A.C.)
Sooooooo E and BIL are going to have themselves a little man-cation this weekend. =)
and honestly, I'm looking forward to having the house to myself Friday and Saturday night! (ok yes, I have grand dreams of watching whatever I want on TV for hours, staying up late, playing my piano and singing as loud as I want, when the stark reality is: I'll be passed out on the couch by 10:30....)
Anyways - a quick Foodie Friday for you! (In case you've been dying to know since yesterday, WHAT'S ON THE MENU?!)
(And watching Rachel Ray must have finally jump-started my domestic gene because I made:)
HOMEMADE Butternut Squash Soup!
The whole process was actually pretty easy (as these soups usually are)
(follow clock-wise from top Right:)
First was chopping time!
Then I browned the onions in a big soup pot (which I used later)
cuts down on the dirty dishes!
While the onions were browning, (top of left picture)
I peeled & cubed apples, and made broth (chicken, I think - basic bouillon!)
(And I cheated - I bought pre-cubed butternut squash...)
Once everything was cubed and the onions had browned, I added the apples, squash and broth to the pot. This was simmered (see recipe below!) until everything got decently tender.
And then, as with a number of these kind of soups, the whole mixture gets mashed or pureed in a blender. (And here is where I need a hand-mixer! I had to put it in the blender, bit by bit!)
And here is also where I think I under-blended it, as the final soup was a tad crunchy/chewy with onions...
But it came out AWESOMELY with the bread bowls I found at our grocery store!
(And I just remembered where I even got this recipe - from a pumpkin patch a few years ago! They had a table full of paper scraps, all different recipes!)
(And no, I didn't use fresh ginger - I used ginger powder - it still came out pretty good!)
Um yeesh the bachelor party (and the nerve of that guy to ask for money!). But I hope they have a great weekend in Canada! I'm sure they will have tons of fun, regardless. I use my nights without my husband (which is every third day when he is at the fire department) to watch tv and read all night. It's actually quite relaxing - and I go to bed early too! That soup looks so good! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
ReplyDeleteLooks yummy! I wish our grocery store sold bread bowls, because I love them for soup.
ReplyDeleteWhat an asshat asking for money for someone who won't even be there. So dumb!