I got a feeling....that this month's gonna be a good month....

this month's gonna be a good, good month. (Sorry.... it's everywhere).

Welcome to October! Arguably the most exhausting month of the year for me, and fittingly I am going into it hallucinating with fatigue. After having stayed up all night with Dan Brown. Ah that diabolical sleep stealing sensationalist Dan Brown. (Reading his books are like when you are eating Pringles, you know they have no nutritional value but you can't stop, and then after a while they start to make you feel a bit sick..and you still can't stop).

ANYWAY In my hallucination I am a domestic goddess. I am a cooking diva....

But wait! It's real! It's not a dream. It's TRUE. All hail the cooking queen.

Ok cooking diva and domestic goddess may be stretching it just slightly but you know...it's all relative. Usually Aaron makes dinner so anything more then chil-mac is quite the feat for me.

Today I set out to prepare a meal for a friend who needed some comfort. Thus the meal was to consist of 1.) Comfort Foods. And 2.) be Autumnal. Because I always like to be seasonally appropriate in every way.. sometimes..when I feel like it.

But the meal also had to be 3) Easy as I had a Crazy Day and very little prep time, and then there's the no sleep and... and let's face it, if it's not easy it's not going to happen in my kitchen.

4) Affordable.

I raced off to the store and found that butternut squash was to be had...cheap. And what is more comforting or Autumnal then butternut soup? Few things, my friends, few things. And then there's the fact that we have one or two extra apples lying around... Which fulfilled criteria 1, 2 and 4. Number 3 though.....hmm...

Spiced Apple-Butternut Squash Soup



Technically this is a foolproof recipe (as is anything you find on the Kraft site-it's made for cooking morons like me) but the matter of peeling a butternut squash can be problematic if you are in a frantic rush. Which of course I was. Please dahlings, do yourselves a favour and boil them first. The skins will peel off like banana peels rather then come off in tiny strips like ugly wall-paper from the 80's. (I tried it both ways. Guess which way I tried second?)

Other deviations from this fool-proof recipe included using water instead of vege broth (cos I had none and really...the water will have veges in it so same difference...right? Am I right? No? Whatever.)
And adding a few spoonfuls of dark brown sugar at the end. Because it seemed like the right thing to do. I find butternut squash sans brown sugar super inappropriate.

DO NOT omit the honey nut cream cheese. It makes the whole thing. Really.

Add some drama free garlic cheesy biscuits (much beloved Red Lobster knock-off)


a beautiful, colourful salad. (This is one thing I do well. I am a salad goddess at least). Since I did not have a chance to photograph my beautiful salad here is something to hold you over from here.

Finish it up with....(shhhh.....can we please have a little bit of reverence here??) Deep breath.....blissful sigh......

Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings




Ok so listen, the Pioneer Woman, bless her ridiculously accomplished soul does tend to gush that everything she tastes is the most incredible tasting thing anyone could ever experience, but I have to say, in this case the Pioneer Woman.She doth not protest too much. Everything you have read is true....sorry... hang on.. I need another moment.....happy sigh.

And the warning? Legitimate. Please bake responsibly people!

And so you have it, the perfect Fall Comfort Meal, in my opinion. Hopefully my friend and her family agree. But it works for me. It really works for me. Maybe I will go crazy and cook again tomorrow...you never know!!!

I got a feeling...that this month's gonna be a fat month, this month's gonna be a fat, fat month....

Have you entered to win the awesomeness that is Spicy Designs yet? No? Really? Hmm...well now..that is interesting.... WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?? If you don't feel deserving of it, that is between you and your therapist...but do please bear in mind that Christmas is only 84 days 5 hours and 57 minutes away....

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