Roasted Vegetable & Butternut Squash Soup-

It is Sunday after church, and time to spend the remainder of the day
with family and friends.

My friend, Lei, and my brother,Gail, and his girlfriend, Yatzi, are coming over for a hot bowl of
 Roasted Vegetable & Butternut Squash Soup
and
Lemon Meringue Pie in a Jar.  
It has been bitterly cold in Iowa this past week with the Friday morning temperature of 15 below zero.  That does not take into account the wind chill.

I have been hungry for a hearty, healthy soup that will warm us up
from the inside out.

My first part of the meal is the soup.
The roasted vegetables are charred just a little with a beautiful deep orange color of
melt-in-your-mouth squash.

 Creamy, deep orange butternut squash topped with crunchy, salty bacon bits
and chopped green onions.

My Roasted Vegetable & Butternut Squash Soup

• 1 large butternut squash, roasted and cubed
• 1 white onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1-lb. parsnip
• 8- oz. sliced button mushrooms
• 1 garlic bulb, roasted
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 32 ozs. chicken stock
• cooked bacon and sliced green onions for garnish

Roast the squash (or microwave it), onion, red bell pepper, parsnips, mushrooms, and garlic bulb in a 425 degree oven for 20-40 minutes.  First, drizzle olive oil over the vegetables and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss to coat.

Put the butternut squash, chicken stock, roasted onion, parsnips, and half of red bell pepper and roasted garlic with thyme and salt and pepper to taste in a soup pot.

Cook on low to medium heat until vegetables are hot and flavors are blended.

Puree with an immersion blender.  Then add mushrooms and other half of red pepper. Puree again,
leaving some chunks for texture and color.

Ladle into bowls and top with bacon and green onions.

Printable version of recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

To roast garlic:
Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each exposed head, using your fingers to rub the olive oil over all the cut, exposed garlic cloves. Cover the bulb with aluminum foil. Bake at 425°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.

This is a fresh parsnip.
They have wonderful flavor and are making a comeback for great flavors in soups
or roasted with other root vegetables.
Parsnips nutrition facts
Parsnips are sweet, succulent underground taproots closely related to the carrot family of vegetables
Its fleshy, stout roots appear as that of carrots, but are white or cream in color and sweeter than that of carrots. Adequate winter frost is essential for good crop production since it facilitates convertion of much of its starch into sugars and helps develop long, narrow, and firm parsnips. The roots generally harvested when they reach about six to ten inches in length, by pulling the entire plant along with its root (uprooting) as in carrots.
Fresh roots are also good in vitamin-C; provide about 17 mg or 28% of RDA. Vitamin-C is a powerful water-soluble anti-oxidant, easily available to us from natural sources. It helps the human body maintain healthy connective tissue, teeth, and gum. Its anti-oxidant property helps protect from diseases and cancers by scavenging harmful free radicals from the body.
For more benefits: http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/parsnips.html

Place the cut vegetables on a sheet pan.
Add the olive oil, salt, and pepper and toss well. Roast for 20 to 40 minutes,
depending on the size of the vegetables, tossing occasionally,
 until the parsnips and vegetables are just tender
with a roasted brown color.

Roast the butternut squash or cook in the microwave until soft.
Remove the seeds and membranes.

Scoop the squash into soup pot and add thyme to season the squash.

When the vegetables are a beautiful roasted brown color,
add to the soup pot of squash, leaving the mushrooms and half of the red pepper
to be added later.

Season with salt and pepper.

Add 32-oz. of chicken stock.

Then add the peeled roasted garlic
and continue to cook on low heat to blend the flavors.

Puree the soup until smooth and creamy.
 Then, add the mushrooms and the remainder of the roasted red bell pepper.

 Stir in mushrooms and red pepper, and puree again
 leaving some chunks of mushrooms and red pepper for texture and color.

Pour into soup bowls, and
garnish with cooked bacon pieces and chopped green onions.
Enjoy!

 Gail & Yatzi and Lei.
I met Lei 3 years ago at a New Year's celebration at her Chinese Church
in our home town.  We have enjoyed Cooking meals & great
Conversation since.
Lei taught me to make
Chinese Pork Dumplings

Check them out at
http://denisebullcooks.blogspot.com/search?q=pork+dumplings

After that delicious Roasted Butternut Squash Soup,
we are ready for our Lemon Meringue Pie in a Jar!

Blog to follow!
Lemon Meringue Pie in a Jar

A Day at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute

The wheels on the bus go round and round.

Instead of driving, we are boarding the WHOOSH Trolley to Woods Hole to visit the Oceanographic Institute.  Today is cooler and rainy, so it will be a nice change of pace to do some sightseeing inside.  This non-profit research facility is dedicated to the study of marine science and to the education of marine scientists.  It is the largest independent oceanographic institution in the world.

I don't care for selfies, but couldn't resist...Lyndie's expression is priceless.

She is excited for a day out.

Arriving at Woods Hole Aquarium.

A little history.

A walk through the aquarium exhibits.

The Atlantic Salmon can grow to 5 feet and weigh up to 84 lbs.

They travel a range from Greenland, Labrador, and Maine.

I don't know the name of this cute little fish,
but as Lyndie says," one of the sexiest fish on Cape Cod."

This fish is a Lionfish.

Although it is beautiful, it is also venomous.

A Lined Seahorse.

Pucker up!

After kicking around the aquarium, we lunched at Captain Kidd.

Our view from the deck.

We tried to order seafood whenever we dined out.

There was so much to chose from!

Our table side view of the harbor.

Classic Fish and Chips.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Lobster.

I was adventurous and ordered the Lobster, Pork, and Ginger Dumplings 

with Soy dipping Sauce and Sriacchia.

Delicious!

Then, we were off to The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute learn more...

For two generations, the human-occupied submersible Alvin has helped scientists expand human knowledge of the ocean and inspired countless to learn more about the ocean.

 This year, Alvin turns 50.

Personnel Sphere 

Alvin's titanium personnel sphere is one of the most perfect large spheres ever built. It is three inches thick—one inch thicker than the previous—and capable of withstanding pressures down to 6,500 meters, 2,000 meters deeper than the old Alvin.

1986  Alvin explores the wreck of the RMS Titanic with a small, remotely operated vehicle named Jason Jr. and returns with photographs of the ship that capture the public imagination. 

For more Alvin 

What a great way to spend a rainy day.