Butternut Soup

Butternut Soup...so excellent!

Ingredients:

1-2 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 large chopped onion
1 large chopped peeled butternut (or sub pumpkin)
1 med chopped peeled potato
2 med chopped peeled apples
1 t curry powder
Pinch ginger
Pinch salt
Pinch turmeric
Pinch cinnamon
1/2 t sugar
3 c chicken stock
1/2 c milk
1 bay leaf

Directions:

Saute onion in oil/butter. Then add butternut, potato, apples, saute 2 min. Add spices, saute 2 more min. Add stock, milk, sugar, bay leaf, boil. Reduce heat, simmer 25 min. Remove from heat, cool to lukewarm. Remove bay leaf. Puree in blender. Return to pot and reheat. Serve with crusty bread and, optional whipped cream to garnish.

Chocolate Cake

Shortly after we came to South Africa was Norah's first birthday party. I wanted to make her a chocolate cake, and since cake mixes are expensive here, figured it would be better to make one myself. I hate dry cakes, so I googled, "moist chocolate cake." This is what came up, and we've made it several times since.
Best Moist Chocolate Cake :)

Ingredients:
2 c flour
2 c sugar
3/4 c cocoa powder
2 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 eggs
1 c buttermilk
11/2 t vanilla
1 c vegetable oil
1 c boiling water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 F or 150 C. This is a slow-bake recipe. Mix all ingredients. Pour into greased/floured 9x13 in square baking dish. Bake 1 hr (or 20 min for cupcakes).

Icing:
Andy always makes our icing. He just mixes with an electric mixer vanilla, butter, and icing sugar (powdered sugar) together till he gets the consistency he wants. Sometimes we add cocoa powder or  food coloring depending on what kind of icing we want.