Butternut Squash Soup with Cider Cream

This recipe has been on my "to try" list for at least 12 years. I first saw it more than 10 years ago in the Thanksgiving 1998 issue of Bon Appetit and I generally run across it at least once a year when I pull out my old November Bon Appetits to plan my Thanksgiving meal.

Still -- somehow it never quite made the holiday menu. But it popped up when I did a Google search for recipes using apple cider (I have a gallon of it and just can't seem to use it all up).

I'm very glad I finally got around to this one -- it has a nice balance of sweet and savory and my husband was a big fan of the cider cream. Although we had it for a light dinner, I think this works better for lunch or as a first course soup.

Served with a foccacia topped with caramelized onions, garlic, kalamata olives, rosemary and parmesan.