Butternut squash-crabapple soup

Another Ina Garten recipe, except….

I used chicken stock instead of water because I had exactly 2 cups remaining from an oldish batch. Crabapples from the backyard tree because they were a decent size and a little tart, like the recommended MacIntosh. A little mealy, and not pretty inside, but I dug out the brown bits and they were good to go.

I added less than one cup of cider at the end–1 tablespoon boiled cider diluted to 3/4 cup–as the soup was already the perfect thickness and I didn’t want to mess it up.

I would never make this without an immersion blender. Slopping a gallon of soup into a regular blender or through a food mill? No. But my little cheap stick blender worked a treat. Velvety smooth soup. Really nice flavor.

Already had a bowl. Good meal for a rainy fall day.