Soup to Ease Us Into Fall

In which I attempt to curry favor with autumn

I’m really torn about what to write today. Do I make a cozy on-ramp to autumn, amp up the positives for the change of seasons even while I’m already in mourning for my summer beds full of 6-foot tall dahlias and zinnias as high as my head. I can see the powdery mildew creeping up the stems while I’m cutting the flowers for bouquets and, yes, that’s me mumbling encouragements to the nascent buds to get blooming before the grey dust overtakes them.

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That appropriately named dahlia: “Gitt’s Crazy”

All while this week, the political news felt more nutso than usual— I woke up this AM wondering if I’d dreamed it all. Imagine if we met for coffee today and I (rudely) insisted on telling you my weird dream where the Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, who Trump referred to as a “Martin Luther King, Jr on steroids” and called himself a “Black Nazi” on porn (and product review!) websites, wished slavery would come back so he could “buy a few.” And then Olivia Nuzzi, a 31-year-old New York magazine politics reporter had a “non-physical” affair with RFK, Jr earlier this year, oh and a sheriff shot a judge in Kentucky, then Donald Trump was at some sort of Jewish-related fundraiser and told Jews it will be their fault if he loses and repeated the trope about Jews having dual ties to Israel and the U.S. and JD Vance doubled down on cats in Ohio, the NYC Covid “Czar” went to sex parties during lockdown, Kamala was interviewed by Oprah and lordie-loo, you’d excuse yourself to go feed the meter and never come back.

It all feels so much.

I feel like I’m losing my ability to process it all. Writer Bruce Handy (an all-round lovely and decent human) summed up the world of politics this week, and his funny/not funny post made me feel a touch less like I wasn’t the only one befuddled by all this:

Humor. Humor will keep us going. That and making sure everyone you know is registered to vote.

Oh, and a nice pot of soup burbling away on the stove.

I set aside the chocolate chips for a moment to perfect this easy-to-make butternut squash soup with flavors that slowly ease us into the idea of fall. It manages to be both hearty and bright-flavored, and is very amenable to your own tweaks.

• The spice levels in this are baseline. I’ve given you a palette to play with. You can use ordinary nondescript curry powder like you find at the grocery, or garam masala. Add chili powder if spice is your thing.

• Make it easy on yourself and buy butternut squash already cut up.

• This soup also freezes nicely.

Butternut Squash Soup

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Butternut, Fennel and Apple Soup

What You’ll Need:

2 pounds butternut squash, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 1/2 cup (175 grams) onion, roughly chopped

1 1/4 cup (140 grams) fennel, roughly chopped

1 apple (roughly 1 cup/100 grams), peeled and roughly chopped

3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 heaping teaspoon freshly grated ginger

3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 cup (244 grams) crushed canned tomatoes

2 cups (500 ml) vegetable broth

salt and pepper to taste

What You’ll Do:

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a bowl, toss the butternut squash with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Spread the squash out onto a baking sheet, making sure there is room between each piece so the squash roasts instead of steams. Sprinkle with salt. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, tossing once, until the squash is tender and beginning to brown on one side.

3. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Toss in the onion and fennel and saute until translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the apple and continue to stir for one minute. Lower the heat to medium low and sprinkle over the curry powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, the ginger and garlic. Stir to coat the onions and fennel with the spices. Raise heat to medium and cook for one minute, mixing constantly. Stir in the tomatoes. Add the broth and butternut squash, give it all a stir for luck, then cover with a lid and let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring twice to make sure nothing is sticking and the pot is not boiling. Remove from the heat and with the lid off, let the mixture cool for five minutes while you go look for your immersion blender or blender.

4. Using the blender, puree the mixture until nearly smooth. If using a regular blender, puree the soup mixture in batches. You can serve the soup immediately or, gosh, whenever. It’s your soup now. You eat it whenever suits your fancy. And yes, it can be frozen.

Are you a fall person? Why or why not? And please tell me it wasn’t just me overwhelmed by the week of political news.

Suburban Still Life: “Harvest with Old, Dull Snippers.”

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