Butternut squash soup

This is one of my favorite fall recipes. It's perfect. I've made it twice in the last three weeks and I'm already thinking about a third. It was a great treat to share with the girls at small group yesterday. The hardest part about making it is peeling and cutting the squash. Man those things are a pain to peel. It's so worth it though. You can make this with or without the Cayenne pepper. When my kids were babies I used to make it for them without the spice. Now I add just enough to give it a little kick. Oh yeah and you can cut the calories by using Neufchatel in place of the cream cheese.

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

6 C peeled and cubed butternut squash (~3lbs raw squash)
6 tbl chopped onion
4tbl butter (you can use less of this if you want)
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
2-8oz packages of cream cheese * I only use 1 and it works fine.

In a large saucepan, saute onions in butter until tender. Add all other ingredients except the cream cheese. Bring it to a boil and cook for 20 min, or until the squash is tender.

                                                             My dinosaur food processor.

This is the messy part, puree squash and cream cheese in a blender or food processor in two batches until smooth. Return to saucepan and heat through. Do not allow it to boil. Then remove it from the heat and it will thicken as it cools.

That's it... now your done. Enjoy with friends!!!