Cooking for Thanksgiving is like preparing for a marathon. There is so much preparation for the big meal from selecting the right combo of new recipes and old favorites to shopping for the freshest ingredients to creating a fabulous family meal.  Though the process may be all consuming, life still goes on and the daily question of "What's for dinner?" still prevails.  So here's the secret---make a delicious and warming soup that can be there at the ready.  My favorite is Butternut Squash.  And for me happiness was I when I discovered that almost every market is now pre-cutting the squash making preparation a snap.  Try it, it will give you one more reason to be thankful this holiday.

Butternut Squash Soup 

Ingredients:

2 medium yellow onions

4 garlic cloves

S/P to taste

1- 1 ½ # Butternut Squash –cubed

1 Tbs Olive oil

3 Cups low sodium Chicken Broth or Vegetable Broth/Stock

 Flavoring:

Orange juice or apple cider

Maple Syrup or honey

Siracha or a dab of pureed chipotle peppers

Optional:  Pumpkin Seeds for garnish

Preparation

Saute onion & garlic and until golden in olive oil.  Add Butternut Squash and one cup of chicken broth.  Cover and cook until tender about 20 minutes.  Let cool completely.

Put in blender or food processor to puree.  Add splash of juice and 1 TBS of maple syrup or honey.  For a more sweet/spicy flavor, add in a dab of siracha or pureed chipotle peppers.

Return to pan with remaining two cups of broth.  Cook on low heat until flavors are well blended---about 10 minutes.  Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds.