After two intensely disappointing elections, I finally have had some of my faith in the American electorate restored. The last eight years have shown us clearly what happens when our vote is guided by fear and ignorance. I have my fingers crossed that the next eight will be a demonstration of the effects of hope and intelligence, and that people will remember the difference, and not go down that old dark road for a long time to come.

I got the outline of this recipe from a fellow on the Fixed Gear Gallery forum. Because of the quantity of CSA leeks I had lingering around the crisper, I modified it slightly. It’s a simple recipe with few ingredients, but hearty and slightly sweet, with a faint tang from the goat cheese.

• 2 butternut squash
• olive oil
• 2 leeks
• butter
• ~6 cups stock
• 200g goat cheese
• ¼ cup cream
• milk
• salt & pepper

Cut the squash in half and scrape out the pulp and seeds. Brush the cut surface with olive oil, sprinkle on some salt and peppr (I added some dried sage too) and place on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven until very tender; 45 minutes to an hour. Once the squash is done, pull it out and let it cool for a few minutes.

While the squash is cooling, cut off and discard the green part of the leeks. Clean the white ends and then chop them up. Melt a few tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat, then add the leeks and cook slowly. Meanwhile, scoop all the squash flesh out of the skins. Once the leeks are well softened, dump in the squash and the stock.

The amount of stock is somewhat variable. I used about six cups, which resulted in a pretty thick soup. More of a thin puree. Add more if you like to sip your soup. Anyway, after adding the stock, bring the soup to a simmer and cook it for fifteen minutes or so. Then puree it in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Pour the blended soup back into the pot and stir in the goat cheese. Keep stirring as the cheese melts until blends into the soup. Add a bit of cream, and some milk if the soup needs to be thinned. Also salt and pepper to taste.

Some days coming up with an interesting subject is a challenge, but usually once I get my camera in my hand and start walking around a scene will present itself. I’ve been posting my photos to a Flickr photoset. I’m also flexing my tiny HTML, CSS, and PHP muscles to create a site to see all the pictures taken by the participants on a given day. It’ll be at http://www.breadandsoup.net/dailyphoto/ once it’s done. (There’s something up there now, but it’s not finished.)

Update
It’s live.

(Thanks to Jeremy Vore for the raw material.)

The daffodils would also like to register their objections: