Memories!

I was recently collecting family photos to put together a calendar and came across a few I thought I might share.

Baylor Homecoming '11

Abby last January... man has she grown up this year!

I love this picture! This is true family fun :)

Me and George on the 4th of July

Me, Spencer and Denise in Orlando

MoGas in Uganda, affectionately known as NoGas to our group!

So it is with life...

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside. "That laundry is not very clean," she says. "She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.  About a month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: "Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this."

Her husband replied, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows." And so it is with life. What we see when watching others depends on how we look at them.

Safari of Six: Orphan Sunday & Meet Our Son!

In honor of Orphan Sunday this weekend I want to share this post with you from the Biemecks (a missionary family currently serving in Kenya). Please read 19-year old Michael's story of redemption and salvation. It's so God!
Safari of Six: Orphan Sunday & Meet Our Son!: "I was born in the province of Turkana in the village of Kerio. My mother was the youngest of five wives to my father. Because she was married so young, my mother never went to school. She was treated like a slave and forced to take care of my father’s animals. When my father died...."

Dude, Where’s Your Bride?

Click on the link here to read an article about being Christian and single in the 21st century...
Dude, Where’s Your Bride?

Recipe of the Week

Finally got this from a friend and it is SO YUMMY! It's pretty time consuming but one day I really am going to make it :)

Cafe Rio Rice


3 cups Minute rice
3 cups water
4 teaspoons chicken bouillon
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 can green chilies
1/2 onion

Chop cilantro, green chiles and onion together in a food processor. Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered 30 minutes.

Tomatillo Dressing

1 pkg. Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Mix
1 C. buttermilk
1 C. Mayo
1-2 tomatillos
2 green onions (the whole thing, minus the bottom roots)
1/2-1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 to 1/3 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 t. lime juice

Put in blender and blend until smooth. Chill for an hour.

Cafe Rio Pork

1- 3 lbs. Pork Roast
1 bottle taco SAUCE (found near the taco seasoning things in a bottle)
1 T Cumin
1 C brown Sugar
1 Can Coke

Put roast in crock pot and fill so that water covers 1/2 of roast. Cook roast for 3 hours on high in crock pot. After 3 hours- pull pork roast apart with 2 forks. Dump out water. Mix taco sauce, cumin, brown sugar, and coke in a bowl and put on meat. Cook for 3 hours on low in crock pot.

Eat everything wrapped in a tortilla. A little messy, but GOOD!

Christmas Gifts!

Christmas is on its way! And once a year, Restoration Gateway sets up a special contribution fund so that the children at RG can each receive a Christmas gift. This year, the gift will be a pair of black loafers for each child, which he or she can wear to school. These shoes are standard wear for school uniforms in Uganda, and the children have been wanting them for a long time! They will be so excited to receive these. $18 will buy one pair of shoes, and they will be purchased in Uganda. If you would like to make a special contribution for the Christmas shoes, please send a check designated to "Orphan Christmas Gift" to 4300 W. Waco Drive B2-324 Waco TX 76710 or you can give online (be SURE to indicate "Orphan Christmas Gift" in the note section for your online gift). Thanks for caring. These kids are super special... you'll just have to take my word for it!

Eternity

I've always enjoyed writing poems. It's something I probably don't do enough of, but here is a recent one I thought I'd share.

Eternity

Thank you Lord for stars above,
And for your unfailing love.
Thank you for my family and friends,
And for your grace which has no end.
Thank you God for life and breath,
And even, Lord, (I think) for death.
For without death we ne'er shall see
Our King, Our Lord, Eternity!

Weekend Adventures

The entire months of August and September are filled with mini vacations... St. Louis, Portland Oregon, Denver, Orlando & Las Vegas. But this weekend was one of my favorites, and I stayed pretty close to home!

Friday night I had dinner in a Baylor Dining Hall with a friend who lives on campus. If you know me you know I love to eat, and what's better than a buffet? I had tons of vegetables, a bean and rice burrito, and Blue Bell ice cream to top it off. It was so fun and I reminisced about the many times I've eaten at Memorial in my past life as a student at Baylor.

Saturday morning I drove to Dallas and spent an hour and a half with a toothless Rae and an always happy Olivia, baking brownies and painting nails. Then I went to a wedding shower for Reagan, who is getting married next month in Graham, Texas, of all places... Saw a couple of grad school friends there. Then I drove back down to Duncanville and spent an hour and a half with Marcus and Christina's girls, making chocolate sorbet and decorating a folder for Hannah's third grade Spanish class. Then it was up to Plano for dinner with Lori! We had fun catching up and talking about talking about babies and Africa. In my next life I'm definitely going to be a NICU nurse!

Sunday after church I took a few friends out on the boat. The Brazos was perfect, as usual. Sunny skies and refreshingly cold water for a change! Everyone tubed, kneeboarded, and got up on skis (even two first-timers)! It was a great day on the river, followed by some amazing "country fried sirloin" from Texas Roadhouse. What a fun weekend! They seem to last forever when you pack in so much activity :)

Looking forward to next weekend with Grandad and some Baylor football!

Miraculous Rain

This morning I woke up and realized it was quite cloudy outside. In hopes of possible rain I quickly checked the weather forecast and saw that we had 0% chance of precipitation today...nothing new in this endless drought we've been having. But I decided to pray for rain anyway, knowing that our God is a big God who is not constrained by weather predictions. Sure enough it stayed cloudy, and even began to rain around 11 am. I went outside to see it with my own eyes. It was just a sprinkle, but it was falling from the sky! Now I'm praying for a downpour!

I love this quote from Brennan Manning...
"Christianity doesn't deny the reality of suffering an evil. Our hope...is not based on the idea that we are going to be free of pain and suffering. Rather, it is based on the conviction that we will triumph over suffering."

The Pearl of Africa

Uganda is known as the pearl of Africa, and it’s not hard to see why. The land is so fertile and there are crops growing literally everywhere. There was hardly a road we drove down that was not lined with maize, beans, or some other crop. Even in Kampala, people had many kinds of vegetables growing in their front yards! There is no shortage of fruit trees either. Papaya trees were the most popular, it seemed, but there were plenty of plantains around as well. I am told they grow avocados and pineapples, but unfortunately I didn’t come across any while we were there. We did see fields of sunflowers (for the oil), tobacco, and lots and lots of corn. I was amazed how tall it grows there since it actually rains rather frequently and it doesn’t get burned up in the 100+ degree heat like it does here in Texas. It seems quite feasible that Uganda could easily supply enough food for its own people as well as another entire country or two, if only they had the infrastructure and knew how to specialize and create sustainable trade routes. One of the most amazing things about RG was just how much of their own food they grow onsite. I was truly convinced that Uganda has no excuse for hungry people with the amount of food I saw during my stay.

food for thought

I'm currently reading Captivating by John & Stasi Eldredge for a book study, and I thought this paragraph was worth sharing.

You see, the life God calls us to is not a safe life. Ask Joseph, Abraham, Moses, Deborah, Esther - any of the friends of God from the Old Testament. Ask Mary and Lazarus; ask Peter, James, and John; ask Priscilla and Aquila - any of the friends of God in the New Testament. God calls us to a life involving frequent risks and many dangers. Why else would we need him to be our [lifesaver]? You don't need a lifesaver if your mission is to be a couch potato. You need [a lifesaver] when our life is in constant danger.

Home Life at RG

On the flight home from Uganda, I made a list of blog topics so I would remember to write about different aspects of our trip and what we experienced there. I don’t know what exactly I intended to write about “home life” but I suppose I can fill you in on the living situation for the orphans there. This may be redundant from earlier, so I apologize if it is.

Restoration Gateway is currently home to 71 orphans (or at least that was the count while we were there in June). The homes are arranged in “pods” of 7 houses laid out like an octagon with an opening where the 8th house should sit. The first pod constructed is “Pod 1” and it is at full capacity with 7 mamas and 56 kiddos… And let me tell ya, Pod 1 is lively! Any given afternoon, you’ll see at least one child on each porch working on dinner, one in front of each house washing crocs, and the other 42 jumping rope, washing clothes, kicking a soccer ball around or gathering up produce from the big pile that appears seemingly out of nowhere. At least three times during my stay, some invisible signal went out and several kids started walking in the same direction. In my curiosity, I followed them. As it turned out each time, a pile of tomatoes or onions or cabbage had appeared and they were going to collect their share. I never did figure out what the signal was that told them it was time to go.

Pod 2 is home to 15 orphans and 2 mamas, 2 missionary families, the guest quarters, the reverend and his family, and the school headmaster’s family. Pod 2 has most of the younger kids, since it was the second phase, and the newest ones had only been there for 2 weeks when we were visiting. They are the only group that doesn’t speak English just yet and would just look at us when we gave them instructions to “hold your ball” and “back up!” Monica, the big sis of that group, had told me that they don’t yet understand English so I was always sticking up for them when the other guys said “these kids don’t listen.” Pod 2 is also lively, with all the visitors learning how to jump rope African-style, and the missionary kids running around collecting interesting bugs and lizards. Those kids love dirt and bugs, and I know they were meant for African living. David and Christopher, the youngest orphans at 5 and 3, are usually walking around Pod 2 making friends with any Mzungu who will pick them up and hold them. They love Mzungus, and we were told the first people to ever hold them were most likely white.

Here is a typical day for the orphans, from what I gathered:

6:30 Sunrise – go outside and sweep the porch with a collection of tall dried grass (or what I like to call a broom without a stick)

7:30 Report to school assembly

10:30 Go home and eat breakfast (Porridge every day except Saturday, which is hot milk)

11:00 Go back to school

1:00 Go home for lunch (most likely rice and beans)

2:00-4:00 either work in the garden or do PE (play futbol) depending on the day

4:00 Play, cook dinner, or do chores depending on your assignment for the day

7:30 Dark – Eat dinner sometime around dark:30, then bathe and clean the floors inside

So basically the day starts and ends with cleaning the floors! On Saturday, it’s not play day it’s work day. The last day we were there was a Saturday and by 7:30 the kids were all in the garden picking beans. They then shell the beans and lay them out to dry on a reed mat in the sun. It’s very interesting to see all the work that goes into a meal there and all the things they do by hand that we would use gadgets for or buy pre-made. It’s also kind of soothing to watch the simple life in action, and the love and joy that these children have in their hearts. They make me glad!

Crocs!

Yes, we saw a few of these.

 
 And many more of these.




Just about every child at RG wears Crocs all the time. And they scrub them once a day until they sparkle. Each day when we had our Hoops camp, all the crocs would go flying and the kids would run barefoot for the entire 2 hours. I have no idea how they ever know where their shoes are or whose are whose, but somehow they manage to keep it all straight.

 Each child also has 2 or maybe 3 outfits of their own. They have their Sunday clothes, their school clothes, and their play clothes (or work clothes). Their school clothes are an assortment of uniforms, some that Reverend Joel’s wife made for them and some that were donated by St. Paul’s School in Waco. These kids love their uniforms! They only wear them for school or special trips and they always change into play clothes afterwards. This is a good thing, because that red dirt sure gets all over everything!

Laundry is an important job at RG, and from what I can tell, everyone takes a turn doing the dirty work. They hand scrub everything with a bar of soap, and then hang it to try or just spread it out on the grass. It seems the preferred method is to lay it out on the grass all day where it can soak up the sun. I have never in my life considered laying my clean clothes outside on the ground to dry, but I now see it might be a viable option. I also noticed when we were driving down the highway that many people lay their clothes out to try on the thatched roof of their mud hut.

It really makes you think about all the "stuff" we have here in America. Even the suitcase I packed for a 10-day trip had more clothes and shoes in it than these kids may ever have. Fortunately, we were able to leave clothes and shoes behind in hopes that someone may feel blessed because of it.
 
And next time I may even think to pack some Crocs!

Squirrels

The squirrels in my yard absolutely love to taunt Sadie. They will climb down the tree to just above her reach, sit there and make their annoying chirping sounds at her. I never knew what sound a squirrel made until this little ritual started. Fortunately, she has never been able to get one, but they sure do make us crazy!!



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This is (not) Africa.

It’s hard to know where to begin filling you in on our trip to Uganda. We had a wonderful trip and got to spend an entire week loving on some really special kiddos at Restoration Gateway. Teaching basketball skills is not something I’d ever expected to see on my resume, having only ever played one season in the fifth grade and finding out I have practically zero ball-handling skills and even worse shooting skills. However, thanks to Doug and Brent who knew the drills and what order to teach them in, we were able to pull off a successful camp and the kids actually came away with some new tricks in the bag. More on that later (or maybe not), but for now I want to tell you about Restoration Gateway. 

There is a popular saying when in Africa that is the explanation for any and every oddity you may encounter while visiting. “This is Africa.”  However, most days during our trip I found myself saying, “this is NOT Africa.”  This place is an oasis in the middle of a sick, hungry, hurting, dirty and somewhat scary continent. Restoration Gateway (or RG) was God’s idea which has been carried out faithfully by Dr. Tim and Janice McCall of Waco, Texas, for the past 4 years. It is a vision that aims to bring the reality of the Kingdom of God to the orphans and oppressed people of Uganda.  Functioning as a small village, RG is home to 71 orphans (and counting) and many other staff and missionaries throughout the year. They have an abundant supply of fresh well water which is safe even for Mzungus (us white folk) to drink untreated and they grow almost all of their own produce onsite. Every person there has access to shelter, clothing, shoes, education and medical care. Every orphan lives in a house with 7 other children and a house mom (or “auntie”) who loves them and trains them in how to carry out important household jobs such as cooking, cleaning, and loving one another. They have a playground, an enclosed gymnasium, a school and are in very close proximity to the powerful Nile River.  

Although each child there has already experienced crisis and loss, they are now part of a loving and caring family who will teach them how to follow Jesus and trust Him with their every need, how to be a functioning member of a family and a community, how to use their knowledge and resources to make a difference in their world, and how to foster physical and spiritual restoration among the people of war-torn Uganda. This place is a gem, and is set apart for God’s purpose in healing Africa. This is not (yet) Africa.

We're baaack!

We all made it home safely from Uganda last night and were incredibly sad to leave those amazing children behind. All of the kids, staff, and missionaries at Restoration Gateway were so kind and fun to spend our week with and all of us are planning to go back again. We all had a blast teaching them basketball skills, watching them make true progress, and sharing the love of Jesus with them each day. I will certainly post details about our trip as time permits, but in the meantime check the highland blog to read the daily posts if you like, which I did not know where going to happen until after we left internet-land.  Sorry!!
http://hbcwaco.tumblr.com/

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

I woke up this morning and realized, "Tomorrow, I am going to Africa." What a strange and exciting thought. A new place I have never been (except for a day trip to Morocco in 2008). I started packing LATE last night, and had to stop so I could go to bed and get up for work today. Tonight I'll get to finish up and have dinner with a friend before we meet up to drive to DFW in the morning. Pray for us as we travel, go through customs, and minister to some amazing kiddos in Uganda during the next 12 days. I'm sure I'll have lots of stories when we get back.

Lauren

T minus 7 days

A week from today I leave for Uganda. We'll fly into Entebbe and then drive about 4 or 5 hours north to Restoration Gateway. We'll be there for about a week doing basketball and VBS ministry as well as some medical care. I won't be able to update while we're gone but please check back in late June for a recap! In the meantime, please pray for our group as we travel and share God's love with orphans and street kids. Thanks for checking in!

LB

Blooms

Well, as it turns out... April showers bring May flowers! (even the kind from the water hose)


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Garden Project cont'd!

Everything is growing like crazy!

Easter 2011

I got to host Easter this year. We all had a great time!
Click on the Album to view photos!

Easter 2011

Garden Project Part 1

Thanks to my MOM and her green thumb for all the hard work! It turned out beautifully!

Africa is calling

Hey guys (or gals),
As many of you know, my sister Jenny is spending this semester working in Kitale, Kenya. Well, it turns out I am going to be her neighbor for about a week during the month of June.  That's right, I am headed to Uganda approximately 6 weeks from now.  My team of young adults from Highland Baptist Church will be doing a threefold ministry through medical clinics, VBS/children's ministry, and Hoops for Hope basketball ministry at Restoration Gateway. I'm interested to see (and you may be, too) how we can squeeze all of this in during a week's time! Restoration Gateway was started by a couple from Waco, Texas and I am very excited to be a part of what they are doing for God's children in Uganda.

I will certainly post an update with pictures when I get back from my trip.  In the meantime, I would love to have some of you sponsor me on this trip if you are able.  The total cost will be just over $2000.  If you would like to help by sending a check, you can write it to Highland Baptist Church and put "Uganda 11" in the memo line.  You can send them to me, or to HBC at 3014 Maple Avenue in Waco, TX (76707). 

Thanks y'all!

LB

Prayer

I've just finished John Piper's study on missions, entitled "Let the Nations Be Glad!" It is the best DVD study I have ever done and I highly recommend it. I have always struggled with reading Piper because he is so wordy, but the DVD allowed us to watch him speak his words and while it didn't reduce the wordiness, listening to his own inflection and watching his body language made it much more alive and understandable, if that's a word. The weekly homework was short and to the point and really opened God's word to me. The last session was on prayer, and one thing he brought up was the Lord's prayer. We all know it:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. for ever and ever. Amen.

If you notice what Jesus asks for in His prayer, it is:
1. that God's kingdom come (and it will)
2. that God's will be done
3. that He provide our basic necessity (food, and/or His Word)
4. that God deliver us from evil and temptation

It is not for a comfortable and cush life. It is not for that he make our way easy-going, or that he save us from suffering. For Jesus told us that we WILL suffer in this life. (There is a whole other section about suffering that follows which is also really good, but I will save that for another time.)

Piper's main point about prayer is that it is meant to be a wartime walkie-talkie, a direct line to the Father while we are down here fighting for His kingdom on earth, and that prayer malfunctions when we turn it into a domestic intercom (i.e. praying for a comfortable, easy, and pain-free life).  He says, "You cannot know what prayer is for, until you know that life is WAR."

Birthday fun

I had a great birthday weekend. It was packed with family and food and driving and movies (in the car) and beautiful weather! Here are a few things I got for my birthday:

I got to ride around with Ben in his new Jeep. This was the one thing I wanted to do for my birthday and it happened! He took me to Sonic and to dinner. And as it turns out, he's a pretty good driver.

I took a road trip. Mom, Mero, and Pam picked me up from work on Thursday and we drove to Houston for the night. Mero had her test on Friday morning and passed, so we all got to go downtown to the Federal Courthouse to watch her take the oath of citizenship. Then we all went out for BBQ to celebrate! It was very exciting, and it truly blessed all of us to be there. We drove back to Waco that night and then onto Dallas, Flower Mound, and Fort Worth for the rest of the weekend. I got to see Marcus High School and the Botanical Gardens. We even took Mero to the stockyards and had her picture with a real longhorn. It was lots of fun! Last night they went to Crawford and had their picture taken with George W!

I got to try new foods - one of my favorite things! We went to Ciro's on my birthday and I ordered seafood pizza. I know, it sounds weird, but it was tasty. Friday night we stopped at Ninfa's in College Station. Then on Saturday night we went out for Korean food in Fort Worth, and on Sunday we had lunch at Fadi's (Mediterranean). I found out that I love grilled cauliflower. If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE to eat, and I LOVE ethnic foods. Here is one of the cakes we had for my birthday!


I finally got to redo my flower beds. This has been an ongoing process in March and one I have really looked forward to. We took out the old bushes, brought out the beds, and put in fresh new pretty things. I really hope I can make them last!

Thankful

Today I am feeling thankful, just reflecting on so many of the blessings in my life. Here are a few.

A job. Where they pay me. Crazy! (and no homework)
My family. I have the best parents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles that anyone could ask for.
My health. And my family's.
My home, and my car, and my dog. Certainly not things I deserve. I am privileged.
3+ meals a day. And choices. Abundant options, even when the pantry seems "empty."
My coworkers. They all treat me like family.
God's grace. So I don't have to earn His acceptance. It would be impossible.

Hands!

A basketball in my hands is worth about $19.

A basketball in Michael Jordan's hands is worth about $33 million.

It depends whose hands it's in

A baseball in my hands is worth about $6.

A baseball in Roger Clements' hands is worth $475 million.

It depends on whose hands it's in.

A tennis racket is useless in my hands.

A tennis racket in Andre Agassi's hands is worth millions.

It depends whose hands it's in.

A rod in my hands will keep away an angry dog.

A rod in Moses' hands will part the mighty sea.

It depends whose hands it's in.

A slingshot in my hands is a kid's toy.

A slingshot in David's hand is a mighty weapon.

It depends whose hands it's in.

Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches.

Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in Jesus' hands will feed thousands.

It depends whose hands it's in.

Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse.

Nails in Jesus Christ's hands will

Produce salvation for the entire world.

It depends whose hands it's in.

As you see now , it depends whose hands it's in.

So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families and your relationships in God's hands because...

It depends whose hands it's in.

This message is now in YOUR hands.

What will YOU do with it?

It Depends on WHOSE Hands it's in!







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Ben in Belize

That's right, another Butler is leaving the country. Ben will spend his spring break outside Belize City in the town of Orange Walk, staying on a compound called La Estima Ranch, complete with beds, showers, and INDOOR TOILETS! Wahoo!


Pray for their work at 4 schools outside the compound.  They have construction jobs & VBS type fun planned.  

I hope to be able to update you soon on the trip I have coming up this summer!

Jenny in Kenya

Jenny should have arrived in Kitale, Kenya by now. To keep up with her happenings, follow the link above or to the right!

Comfort

As we have studied Isaiah this year at BSF, the way God comforts his people has been a theme. Certainly throughout the Bible it shows up many times.  The dictionary defines comfort as: (1) a feeling of freedom from worry or disappointment, (2) assistance, or (3) satisfaction or physical well-being provided by a person or thing.


What a blessing to know that God considers it His responsibility and even His pleasure to provide us with such a feeling of freedom and comfort and satisfaction!


Here are a few more places this theme pops up:


May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant. Psalm 119:76


Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4


For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12


Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7


God comforts us so that we can comfort others!
"We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19

Hezekiah's prayer

After Sennacherib, king of Assyria, threatened to wipe out Jerusalem as he had already done to many other nations, Hezekiah came before the Lord.


¹⁸ “It is true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. ¹⁹ They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. ²⁰ Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are the only God.^[c]”


And He did.

³⁵ “I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!” {said the Lord}.  ³⁶ Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!


Isaiah 36-37

Curry Scented Butternut Squash Soup

I am currently working my way through a Pampered Chef cookbook called Soups, Stews & Chilis. Last night I made Curry Scented Butternut Squash Soup. Let me just say it was a pain and a mess to make but it was absolutely delicious. I highly recommend it!

1 butternut squash, 2 1/2 lbs (6 cups cubed)
2 large sweet apples (fuji or honeycrisp)
3 medium onions
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 8 oz container mascarpone cheese
2 tsp salt
sour cream and snipped fresh chives (optional)
*Peel squash and apples. cut into 1 inch cubes and dice onions.
*Melt butter in large pot over medium low heat. Add onions. Cook 5-6 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add squash, apples, brown sugar and curry powder. Cook and stir 1 minute or until curry powder is fragrant. Add stock and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer 24-26 minutes or until squash is very soft. Remove from heat.
*Carefully ladle about one-third of the squash mixture into blender container. Cover and blend until smooth. Pour blended soup into a large bowl. Repeat two times with remaining squash mixture.
*Return soup to pot and whisk in mascarpone and salt, until mascarpone is completely dissolved. Return to simmer over medium heat and remove from heat. garnish each serving with sour cream and chives if desired.

16

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