Harvest soup & Yeast rolls Win this week!

I had a three way tie between the recipes this week: Harvest soup, yeast rolls and apple cranberry pie. What a delicious meal, huh? I decided to make the first two but skip the apple pie since we had so much Halloween candy in the house. So this week its a 2 for 1 deal:



I made this on Halloween. Perfectly fitting :)

 This soup is called Harvest soup b/c you're suppose to use produce from your "harvest"! I usually use cauliflower but didn't have any so I used parsnips. Also, I actually used a banana squash instead of butternut-a first in this soup! I also don't usually add zucchini. But I had several and wanted to use them- it was perfect in this soup.

Harvest Soup:
1 medium butternut squash
1 acorn squash
1 Tbsp. butter
1 small onion
4 c. vegetable or chicken broth
1 c. milk (may need another 1/2 c. at the end to get a thinner consistency)
2 medium red potatoes, cubed (leave peel on!!!)
2 parsnips, peeled and sliced
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
2 small zucchini, sliced
1 bay leave
1 clove of garlic, smashed
S & P to taste
1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
dash of cayenne
grated fresh nutmeg
1/2 c. rice
Garnish with any of the following: homemade croutons (I used pumpernickle bread), roasted tomatoes (slice tomatos, arrange on wire rack over cookies sheet, sprinkle w salt, drizzle w olive oil, bake at 350 for 20 minutes), dried cranberries, and/or shredded cheese (like Gouda or Swiss)

-Preheat oven to 350. Rub outside of both squashes w/ oil & put on a cookie sheet. Bake for 1.5 hours.
-Melt butter in a large stock pot. Add onion and cook until onion is translucent. Meanwhile, cut squash, scoop out seeds and then the "meat".
-Add broth, milk, all the vegetables (including soft squash) and bay leaf.
-Bring to a simmer and allow to cook down for about 20 minutes or until all the vegetables are soft.
-Find bay leave and discard! Puree soup w/ an immersion blender or carefully transfer to a blender and puree.
-Add back to large stock pot, add seasonings and bring to a simmer. Add rice and keep at a simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
-Taste and adjust seasonings. Add aditional 1/2 c. milk if soup is too thick.
-Garnish and Eat!


Yeast Rolls:
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast (1 envelope)

1 tsp. + 1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. warm water (115 degrees)
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. skim milk, warm (115 degrees)
1 egg
3/4 tsp. salt
4 c.  flour

1.Dissolve yeast, 1 tsp. sugar and warm water in a bowl. Add butter, milk, egg, salt & 1/3 c. sugar & 2 c. flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in remaining flour 1/2 c. at a time. You may not use a total of 4 c.
2. Knead on a flour surface (works great in a Kitchen Aide) about 8 min. Place in a greased bowl, turning to get it all covered in oil. Cover and place in a super warm place. Let rise for about 1-1.5 hr or until doubled in size.
3.Press down dough, gently. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Using a pizza cutter divide into 12 portions. Fold dough over itself, pinching the bottom to form a roll/ball. Place in a greased 8x10 baking pan.
4. Cover and let rise another 30 min.
5. Bake at 350 for 10-12 min
6. Immediatley out of oven spread with butter and course salt




Before rising 1.5 hours



After rising



Before rising 30 minutes



After rising



Out of oven!