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Today has been busy! First I'll show you the crafty, and then I'll show you the culinary, ok? Ok.

So this fabric

Was crying out to be made into something for Toast'n'Candy. It is rather overwhelmingly patterny so I decided that it needed to be made into something small. Thus, a business card holder:


T'n'C, do you need one? If so, it's yours!

I also made this floppy cotton batik tote (lined with unbleached cotton)

Since it is quite light and folds up very small, I made it a little pouch to live in:

I envision it as the sort of thing one carries around in an everyday bag in case of impromptu shopping (I do not like getting a plastic bag for 2 granny smith apples, a carton of yogurt and a lime, but if I haven't got a shopping bag with me, sometimes it happens).

In culinary news, my sweetie took me to Trader Joe's where I bought a bag of limes to make fresh lime gelatin:

Yum.

A bag of cubed butternut squash from my last trip to TJ's also needed using, and I decided it would become soup. I've never made up a recipe before, so I was pleasantly surprised when it came out tasting pretty good. If you'd like to try it, it goes something like this:

Nancy's Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
1 bag Trader Joe's cubed bn squash (I think this is about a pound?)
1 can chicken broth (low sodium best)
1 small onion, diced
1 shallot, diced
1 largeish clove garlic, pressed or minced
1T sherry (dry, for cooking)
1/4t nutmeg
1/4 c heavy cream or 1/2 & 1/2
2T maple syrup
2T butter
3T olive oil, divided
Salt & Pepper
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put squash in a roasting pan, drizzle with 2T olive oil, shake salt all over and mush around with your hands so all of squash is oily. Put in oven to roast for 30 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon after 15.

Heat butter and remaining 1T olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. When melted and bubbling, throw in the onion and shallot. Saute until soft and translucent- 5-7 minutes.
Add garlic and nutmeg and saute another minute more. Add sherry and allow to cook until most of the sherry has reduced (maybe another minute or two).
Add roasted squash and saute for 5 minutes.
Add chicken broth and bring up to a boil. Once it comes up to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes, then in 1 cup batches transfer hot mixture to your blender and puree until smooth (be very careful! it is hot and can jump up through the lid when you turn it on).
Return pureed soup to the pot, add cream or 1/2&1/2 and maple syrup. Stir until blended and heated through, probably 2-5 minutes.
Serve with crusty bread, yum!

And, before I go- I told you about my friend Lauren's exciting award nomination, but what I didn't know is that the winners are picked by readers! So, please go here to vote for Lauren's book, The Masque of the Black Tulip!

Now I'm off for the final ingredients to make some chili for dinner...

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