Butternut Squash Carrot Soup

Confession: William Sonoma catalogues are kind of like kitchen porn for me. Gleaming All-Clad stainless steel (swoon, copper core!), and Le Creuset in very color of the rainbow, someday, my kitchen will look like this, someday. Santa would do well to peer through my last dog eared copy for some ideas.

It has also become an unexpected source of culinary inspiration. Most of the recipes are from top notch chefs (Thomas Keller anyone?) and don't require any special gadgetry.

So, catalogue in hand, I decided to make some butternut squash carrot soup (recipe here), perfect since the weather has finally taken a seasonal turn towards cooler temps. If you want to save on time just do yourself a favor and buy the precut and peeled squash. I made two squash dishes this day and was fit to be tied after I had cut, peeled and diced two of them back to back.

I also opted for a quick substitution of ingredients I had on hand and used some spicy thai chicken sausage and caramelized onions as a topper.....and of course served with some hearty, garlic bread.