Cream of Squash Soup

Remember all that squash bought last month for super duper cheap?  We're finally in the home stretch of using it all up.  Today was a rainy day.  It's Thursday night Grey's family bonding night.  Perfect comfort soup weather.  There were 3 acorn squash left, which should have yielded 6 cups of squash for the recipe, but only 2 would fit in the 6 quart crock.  Time for plan B.  Less squash.  This was a breeze to make.  The squash were tossed in, just as I headed out to work.  At the end of the day, they were simmering on the auto warm cycle.  It took 10 minutes to toss it all together.  This was made for under $3.00. 

Winner, Loser or Meh

This was basically the squash version of the Potato Soup that was such a hit a few weeks ago.  I liked it, Auntie EQ liked it, Uncle Meat and Potatoes dreamed of bacon bits all over it.  He made his own wish come true.  I wanted it to have some garlic.  I want garlic on everything, so my opinion may not count.  It needed salt and when I added it, I liked it the best.  This was good.  I'd make it again.

Recipe

I used a 6 quart crock pot for this.

Ingredients

• 1/2 onion, peeled, diced (I used some frozen from a bag)
  
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 6 cups butternut or acorn squash (I used acorn squash, and could only fit in 2 so we had 4 cups and not 6 cups of squash)
• 4 cups vegetable stock (or Vegetable Better than Bouillon & water to make 4 cups)
  
• 3/4 tsp marjoram, dried
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon hot chili powder
• 16 oz cream cheese or neufetchel or combination ( I used all neufetchel to cut back on fat)
  

Poke any squash used with a fork, add to the crock with a cup of water and let it cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Remove from crock and wash the crock, return to cooking base and turn on high.  Heat a no stick skillet over medium high heat and melt butter.  Saute the onion until well cooked and caramelized.  While the onions are cooking, cut the squash, seed it and scoop out the meat and return to the crock.  Add all other ingredients. Add onions and butter.sauteed in butter and all the spices and let it crock for another thirty minutes to an hour.  Adjust seasonings and add salt if desired. Use an immersion blender to smooth.  Serve.