2012 Resolutions Check-Up: January

I'll save you the photo of my calendar filled with sad faces (nights I got < 7.5 hours of sleep) and x's (weekends where I didn't drink enough water) because I'm not at home right now, but I'm sure you've figured since I'm doing my update on January in the second last week of February, things have not been looking good for my New Year's Resolutions...

Clear my plate
January is an ambitious month, and like most people, I found myself putting more on my plate instead of taking things off. It was good in its own way: I blogged quite a bit in January, reconnected with a few friends, participated in two Chinese New Years Eve feasts (and one Chinese New Year's feast), talked about my job to some university students, took on some presentations at work and started planning a few projects (including the bake sale!)

I did keep my resolution at the back of my mind, and tried to ask myself "Is this something I want to commit to?" every time something new came up, and I did say "No" to a few things, so I think that's a good start.

Be a tourist in my own city
In January, we checked out the 10-Minute Play Festival and ate at CHARPOP. My friend T. and I also ate at Model Milk. Not the full "tourist" experience, but a good start.

Drink at least 1 L of water on non-work days
According to my calendar, I did this about 50% of the time! I find that on my days off, I drink more fluids from other sources (cups of tea at dim sum, glasses of water at a friend's) than from my CamelBak.

Get at least 7.5 hours of sleep per night (i.e. 10:30-11 PM bedtime)
I did very well during the first week of January - I was still staying with B. for the "holidays", but once my sister started school again I had to go home and play mom while the real Mama T is still away (until Wednesday, yay!) Obviously the added extra "chores" of cooking, making lunches and taking the garbage out (though my siblings do help with that - thanks!) made it harder to get to bed on time... and then those extra commitments started creeping in that there were actually nights where I told myself I was choosing to go to bed late. So a lot of work needs to be done here.

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Koto Sushi

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome.

I can't help but start with a little disclaimer: B. has an odd relationship with seafood - he doesn't like fish, but he eats canned tuna and fish & chips; he doesn't like shrimp, but will eat crab and lobster. Needless to say, I don't enjoy going for sushi with him (it's usually his idea; he likes California rolls and most of the hot dishes) - I know that what he eats shouldn't affect what I eat, but I can't help but feel a little guilty at the thought of ordering an entire plate of sashimi and nigiri to myself. So when we do go out for Japanese, often we'd share a few rolls and hot appies - not the most traditional way of enjoying sushi (sorry, purists!), but more and more places are doing "fusion" anyway.

B. had purchased a DealFind for Koto Sushi, a relatively new restaurant right downtown on the corner of 4th Ave and 3rd St. From the outside it looks like a small space, but inside it is quite spacious, stretching out in an L-shape toward the back of the building. We arrived at around 7 on Friday night and the restaurant was busy but not crowded.

Traditional sushi and sashimi is available here, but the focus of the menu seems to be more on their unique fusion rolls and appetizers, which often make use of Korean chili sauces. On the left side of the menu is a "Koto Must Have" list of the restaurant's recommended specialty items, and we made a few of our decisions based on that.

We started with the Asian Sweet Chili Tofu ($8), Koto's answer to the more traditional Agedashi Tofu.


Usually, I love agedashi tofu - a crisp, piping hot outer layer giving way to a soft, smooth centre. Unfortunately, this dish was a flop - literally! The batter on the tofu was a little too thin and not fried enough, so the slices of tofu were floppy instead of firm as we picked them up. The sauce was cloyingly sweet - it tasted more like honey or plum sauce and there was barely any spicy or savoury flavour.

B. "forced" me to order something that only I would eat, so I picked the Koto Spicy Miso Sashimi ($12). I was pleasantly surprised by the presentation - the sashimi was served on a colourful salad of lettuce, tomato and avocado on a crisp fried wonton wrapper nestled in a martini glass, topped with a few slices of lemon.


So it turned out B. could eat some of this after all ;) The combination of tomato, avocado and spicy miso made this dish seem very Mexican-inspired and it was very fresh tasting and fun. I loved how the lemon really brought out the flavours of the fish. While I liked the dish, I didn't expect the bold flavours, so next time I will probably just order regular sashimi.

For the "main course", B. and I shared two rolls; it was initially hard to choose as almost everything appeared to be fried or had a "forbidden ingredient". We finally settled on the Lobster Dynamite Roll ($18) and Koto San's Seared Salmon Roll ($12.50).




The Lobster Dynamite Roll was impressively presented with a fried lobster tail. Each piece was stuffed with a section of lobster tempura with imitation crab meat, cucumber, mayo, avocado and tobiko topped with a sliver of avocado, thin strips of seaweed and a drizzle of Korean sweet-and-spicy sauce.

The large rolls were a little messy to eat, but I loved the contrast of the crunchy tempura with the tender crab meat and smooth avocado. The sweet-and-spicy sauce was ok in this, but the sushi would still have been good without it.

The Seared Salmon Roll was essentially a California roll topped with pieces of seared salmon on "volcano sauce", a slightly spicier sauce that still leaned more on the sweet side. B. picked off the salmon from his rolls and gave them to me, which was fine, because I loved the buttery taste of the barely-cooked salmon. Otherwise, the rolls were pretty good, but why does everything have to have sweet sauce on it?

Our server was very smiley and friendly, and service was quick and efficient. With the DealFind, our tip cost us more than the meal itself! I don't think I'd go out of my way to revisit Koto Sushi, but if I were to go back I'd probably just stick to the basics - if only to avoid the sauce!

Koto Sushi
435 4 Ave SW
Calgary AB T2P 0J4
(403) 457-2898
Open Mon-Fri 11:30 AM-9 PM; Sat 5-9 PM. Closed Sundays.

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Thanks for supporting the Calgary Food Blogger Bake Sale & Brown Bagging for Calgary's Kids Society!

2 hours into the Bake Sale... lots of goodies already gone!

Photo by Wendy Y.

This is a thank you long overdue, but a thank you just the same.

Thanks to all of you who had a hand in raising $1,900 for Brown Bagging for Calgary's Kids Society last weekend!

Thanks to all the bloggers, who donated their time baking, packaging (into the wee hours of the night!), advertising on their blogs, traveling to the bake sale and volunteering at the booth.

Thanks to Joel, Jillian, Alan and Alison for allowing us to use the space at Casel Marché and Market 17, and for putting up with our seemingly endless requests for storage space, bags, staplers... and moving a 6' table out of my trunk! So many people who came by talked about how they always drove by the building or wondered about the space and were so glad to have an excuse to check it out!

Thanks to the talented Chelsea Klukas for designing our gorgeous poster!

Thanks to Avenue Magazine, Metro News, FFWD, CBC Radio and all the other media outlets who picked up the bake sale and spread the word.

Thanks to Chef Mario from Pimento's and Mighty Skillet for being there on Saturday to give everyone something savoury before they came in for something sweet!

Thanks to B. for running little errands for me and for leaving me a bit of corned beef hash for lunch ;)

But most of all, thanks to everyone who came by to buy some goodies and support a fantastic cause, whether you read about us from your favourite blog, heard about us in local media or came to support a friend. And thanks to all of you for your patience - I definitely did not expect this sort of turnout for this event and couldn't help but feel a little guilty later on in the day when people came by to only find a handful of treats on the table!

Thank you again for a very successful bake sale - I have lots of ideas of how we can make it even better (and maybe crack the $2,000 mark?) for next year, and hopefully years to come.

I've heard lots of you gush about certain baked goods since the bake sale, so I will try to keep this space updated with the posts as they come up!

Anna from Anna's Appetite brought Cranberry Walnut Lemon Scones and Black & White Cookies

Catherine from Chatterpin brought the most gorgeous Chocolate Sundae Cupcakes and Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting.

Jen L. from Chocolate & Ginger brought a tower of gourmet treats - Chipotle Bacon Caramel Popcorn, Valrhona Brownies with Winter Citrus Chevre, Rosemary Toffee Shortbread and Momofuku Mini-Crack Pies - before running a 1/2 marathon! All the treats were gone within two hours. Jen also brought a small batch of Mini-Rosemary Pear Cornbread Muffins to replenish our stock on Sunday!

Wendy from Clearly the Place to Eat brought some yummy S'Mores Brownies and Lemon Glazed Sugar Cookies done up in some cute Valentine's-themed packaging!

Stephanie E. from the popular blog Clockwork Lemon brought five loaves of Wild Rice & Onion Bread, as well as some Brown Butter Rice Krispie Squares. B. bought a loaf of the bread and it's soft and pillowy, and excellent with this British medium cheddar that he gets at Costco.

The girls of Club Club promoted their upcoming "cook"book Booze Booze with boozy cookies - "Old-Fashioned" Snickerdoodles (with bourbon and bitters) and Margarita Coins - packaged with hand-stamped napkins.

Dan from Dan's Good Side, who helped me organize the bake sale, brought "Dan's Good Cookies" - Lemon Rosemary Shortbread with Balsamic Raspberry Compote.

Cheryl from Dining Room Empire brought Tonka Bean Cherry Brownies and Blueberry Rosemary Brownies for Saturday, and then a batch of Chocolate Chip Cookie bites and Poached Pear Cardamom Muffins on Sunday... and she's due to give birth in a month!

Local celeb Julie outdid herself as usual, with slutty brownies, chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, ganache truffles and a few loaves.

First-time baker David from F-Log for Thought brought the most gorgeous Red Velvet Cupcakes, after two test batches! I unfortunately couldn't get my hands on any, but am sure they were as delicious as they looked.

Alison from Fig & Fennel brought yummy chocolate cupcakes topped with malt balls and giant heart-shaped sugar cookies decorated with pink frosting and cinnamon hearts!

Food Mamma Fareen brought beautiful boxes of Caramel Popcorn Twists and Chocolate & Almond Whipped Shortbread, plus a few squares of Almond Roca shortbread.

Jacinthe from Food with Presence brought an unusual but tasty treat - Spicy Caraway Cheddar Biscotti!

Stephanie A. from Global Dish made Toasted Coconut and Dark Chocolate Meringues, one of the few gluten-free goodies at the sale.

Barb from Just a Smidgen brought Heartland Café Nutri Cookies and Sweet Briar Rose Petal Cookies, and took some gorgeous photos at the event!

Miss Foodie, aka Patricia, brought Andes Mint Chocolate Meringues, which sold out in no time at all.

Gwendolyn from Patent and the Pantry had to bake a double batch of her delicious dark chocolate chunk cookies because she kept eating the cookie dough ;)

Jen N., who writes Prairiesummers, a German-English food blog, brought some Chili Chocolate Cookies with Lime and Cocoa Nibs - little bites bursting with flavour. Jen also brought adorable little Citrus Cakes spiced with cardamom.

Bonnie from Scrumptiously Fit Food brought some scrumptious chewy butterscotch coconut brownies topped with marshmallows... not exactly fit! ;)

Megan, The Vegan Cookbook Aficionado, made some of the most delicious treats that could probably convert any meat-eater. The Peanut Butter Strawberry Tarts were so good Megan made them twice, and everyone loved the soft, savoury Vegan Pizza Rolls.

The boys at This Sh*t's Delicious made commissioned some *ahem* High Fibre Chocolate Cookies shaped to look like... well, you know! A fun play on their blog name and interesting to see a cookie made with dates!

Michelle from yumyumyummers made bags of mini heart-shaped sugar cookies on Saturday, then brought over some delicious truffles on Sunday.

We also had some non-food bloggers bake! Lori, the 10 Cent Designer, saw that our gluten-free supply was not meeting the demand and brought some giant double chocolate pecan cookies, while Lily, a friend of Jen N.'s, brought some traditional Chinese egg tarts.

Last but not least, I brought Vanilla Bean Marshmallows with Toasted Coconut! Recipe to come soon (after I catch up on my work and a few more blog posts!)

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Calgary Food Blogger Bake Sale - next weekend!

Sorry for the lack of blog posts lately! I've been busy... putting too much on my plate and not sleeping... planning the Calgary Food Blogger Bake Sale happening next weekend - February 11 and 12!

You may remember the first bake sale back in June 2010 where we raised over $1,200 for Calgary Meals on Wheels.

This time, we are raising money for another fantastic "foodie" charity, Brown Bagging for Calgary's Kids Society - we hope to break our previous record!

Please come join us next weekend, February 11 and 12 from 10 AM - 5:30 PM at Casel Marché for some yummy baked goodies, as well as the usual Saturday food trucks and free wine tastings at J. Webb Wine Merchants! I will be there all day Saturday, while Dan from Dan's Good Side will be there all day Sunday. We will be joined by some great food bloggers throughout the weekend so please come down and meet us!

For more details, including a list of all the blogs involved, check out our Facebook event or follow the Twitter hashtag #yycFBBS See you there!

P.S.: Big thanks to Chelsea Klukas for designing our gorgeous poster this year!

P.P.S.: Please check out Calgary Meals on Wheels' charity event, YYC Hot Chocolate Fest, all through the month of February! I'm thinking of organizing some sort of "hot chocolate crawl" before the month is up - anyone in?

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CHARPOP

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome.

Closing out the place!
B. and I were super-lucky to get spots at the last seating of the first incarnation of CHARPOP on Tuesday! Long story short, it involved not getting our reservation request in until 4:08 two weeks earlier (registrations were open at 4 PM), being on the waiting list, my perennial brunchmate Tiffany offering us to share her 6 PM seating but me having other plans (!!!), then the news a few days later that we got the 9:30 PM seating (and would probably be eating till midnight...)

When I'd heard that Aviv from Sidewalk Citizen was involved in this dinner, I had an inkling that the "secret location" would be the bakery. I had never been, but I knew it was small, and would probably make an intimate venue for this pop-up restaurant.

Despite only allowing parties of up to four, tables of six and eight were set up, encouraging diners to interact with their tablemates. I was pleasantly surprised to have been seated at the "media table" with my friends Julie and Gwendolyn, who were there with Shelley Youngblut and a man who only introduced himself as "Jacob", who I later found out was Jacob Richler!!! Now I am slightly embarrassed that I didn't know.

Anyway.

I was surprised to find that the menu was à la carte (Decision Making?!?), having expected a prix-fixe menu, given the four-seatings-per-night arrangement. The menu was very "experimental", featuring items that you usually wouldn't see on a restaurant menu, like beef heart, sweetbreads, pig ear, tongue and octopus. "Small plates" (appetizers) were $17, large plates were $38 and sides and desserts were $12. Aviv's influence was obvious throughout the menu, with many of the dishes paired with croissants, brioche, bannock and scones, and of course, there were the two desserts!

We decided to forego any drinking that night, which in retrospect may have been a mistake as it seemed like everyone else had a drink by their side and there was a lovely looking local blonde beer for only $5! We kicked things off with the Open Faced Croissant with Lamb, Sumac, Nigella Seeds & Mint ($12).


B. was a big fan of this dish, though he thinks he would've liked it better if the lamb was warm. I thought it was only ok - the croissant was soft and pillowy, but lacking a flaky crust, while the lamb was crumbly and a little too subtly flavoured. I had to take a few bites before I tasted the licoricey nigella seeds. Overall, the croissant reminded me of one of those meat-filled buns you get at a Chinese bakery... with just a hint of a more exotic flavour.

Next we shared the Crispy Pig Ear Salad ($17), tossed in a lemon chili dressing and topped with crispy toast and an egg cooked in a 64-degree sous-vide bath.


I was hoping to get a photo of the yolk dribbling out of the egg and onto the salad, but my plan was foiled by the magic of sous-vide! The egg had the texture of a soft-cooked egg, but the stability of a hard-boiled one. It was pretty neat. I also loved the pig ears - crispy little salty nubbins that reminded me of pork rinds. The salad itself wasn't great - it was made mostly of bitter radicchio and wasn't dressed very evenly. I think Jacob commented that he would have the crispy pig ear just by itself, in a paper cone like popcorn. I totally agree.

Julie and Gwendolyn were kind enough to share the last couple bites of the more popular salad that night - Baked Kale with Persimmon, King Mushroom, Farro and Pinenut ($17). I loved the earthy flavour of the roasted kale, and the large slices of king mushroom had soaked up the lemony dressing. Yum.

Our last small plate was the Smoked Veal Sweetbreads with Pig Skin, White Beans and Escarole ($17).

B. and I had recently eaten sweetbreads (the "pretty" food name for an animal's glands, usually the thymus) in New York - at wd~50 we had some small bites of breaded and fried sweetbreads in a bowl of king mushroom "noodles" and ginger-banana chips as part of their tasting menu - so I felt comfortable ordering them. I was a little surprised that the sweetbreads were not deep-fried here.


The first bite was a little weird - the sweetbreads were soft, almost fatty, but not greasy. The tops were lightly seared and salted, so together with the smoky flavour, it was like eating bacon or smoked pork belly, but again, without the grease.

The sweetbreads sat on a stew of white beans and escarole, which was creamy with just a bit of chew, topped with a generous sprinkling of parsley. Usually we hate parsley but we ate it here, and enjoyed the stew's smoky flavour, which mirrored that of the sweetbreads.

For our main dish, we shared the Beef Cheek with Squash and Savoury Scone ($38).


The beef cheek was literally braised for a day and was fall apart tender, while the peppery gravy had a hint of sweetness from the multicoloured squash, reminding me a little bit of Japanese curry. We thoroughly enjoyed it. The scone was nice - a firm, outer shell gave way to a soft, slightly cheesy inside, and worked well for sopping up the gravy at the end.

We had a side of beets ($12) with our beef cheek. I love beets, so I gobbled these down eagerly, but you could hardly tell that they were Hot Vinegar Beets with Orange & Thyme except for the sliver of orange peel that was nestled in the small bowl.


So before we started eating, I posted my excitement on Twitter/Facebook and Tiffany commented back "It was delicious!! Cinnamon buns!!" So I could hardly wait for dessert to arrive.


The Cast Iron Baked Cinnamon Bun with Spiced Rum & Raisin Gelato ($12) was the highlight of our meal. The warm, moist bun was slathered with a sticky, cinnamon sauce and topped with a generous scoop of a very rummy ice cream. Rum & Raisin is one of B.'s favourite ice cream flavours, so he totally fell for this dish, while I thought the rum-soaked raisins were just a little too boozy for me. I commented back to Tiffany, "OMGGGG!!! You were right about the cinnamon buns!!!"

On the other hand, Julie found the cinnamon bun a little too heavy of a finish for an already-heavy meal, but she did have way more food than us ;) We also agreed that it was pretty pricey! We did come prepared to spend, and I get that we were paying mostly for the experience and all the work in turning a bakery into a pop-up restaurant, but still, $12 for a bowl of beets?

Still, I was very happy and excited to have been part of the first CHARPOP, especially since it sounds like the next one will be a while off. I heard Connie telling some diners that they were hoping to do another pop-up in the spring, but in San Francisco! So it may be a few more months yet before CHARPOP will be back in Calgary. I can't wait to see what they will come up with next!

CHARPOP
Locations, hours and reservation details vary. Latest news available on their website or via Twitter @YYC_CHARPOP

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Model Milk

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome.

I'd heard lots of great things about Model Milk. Led by Executive Chef Justin Leboe, formerly of Rush, this bistro-style restaurant is known for its modern versions of classic combos like Chicken & Waffles and Shrimp & Grits. Open daily until 1 AM, it's a favourite hangout for local chefs and regular foodies alike.

My perennial brunch buddy Tiffany had to cancel on some brunch plans, so we decided to reschedule for a Tuesday night dinner. The space was quiet at 6 PM, but became more lively as the night went on.

By the way, Model Milk is beautiful - I love the exposed brick, tall ceilings and the way the second level sort of spirals around the space. Modern, but cozy.

We got things started with some wine; Tiffany had a Chardonnay while I had the Noble Tree Tempranillo. I've been really liking tempranillo lately, and it was cool to see one from California instead of its native Spain. The wine was spicy but smooth, with some hints of chocolate.

The food menu (now on iteration #11) is split into "Small Plates" and "Large Plates" - the former are fairly generously sized appetizer-type dishes meant for sharing, while the "Large Plates" are mains meant for enjoying alone.

Tiffany and I decided to split four "Small Plates".

    

    
The Shrimp and Grits ($15) arrived first and it's no wonder everyone gushes about it. It was my favourite of the night. The creamy hand-ground hominy grits were infused with the smoky flavour of the chewy bits of ham hock, while perfectly cooked shrimp surrounded a fried egg with a beautiful, orange yolk.


There were an odd number of shrimp (?!?) so Tiffany let me have the last one. She's awesome.

The Hamachi Crudo ($16) was not one of our favourites. We'd forgotten what "crudo" meant ("You can't go wrong with yellowtail!") until the dish arrived.


Crudo means raw. Not that we have any problem with raw fish, but the flavours just seemed disjointed. The fresh, tender slices of hamachi just didn't seem to mix with the tart pickled apple, mustard pecan, black garlic and sprigs of dill.

The Smoked Veal on Toast ($13) did not look as we expected - a crisp crostini was topped with a layer of telaggio cheese, then a mountain of smoked veal and another pile of watercress and green apple.


It was very salty and fatty, but it went really well with my tempranillo (brought out the sweetness) so I enjoyed it.

Last but not least, was the Fried Country Pâté ($14) made with foie gras and smoked chicken, served with a dollop of mustard, a quince, grape and celery salad and five (?!?) toasts.


Tiffany and I enjoyed it - the rich flavours of the pâté matched well with the light, pickly salad and the slightly spicy mustard. However, Tiffany noted multiple times that the pâté had the texture of sausage, and if you were expecting a smooth, spreadable meat paste then you probably wouldn't like it. Since Tiffany gave me the last shrimp I gave her the last toast.

Our service was friendly, but a little strange. We had different wait staff bring us each of our dishes, with only one of them taking the time to explain the different components of the dish. Our main waitress was overly attentive - coming to our table every few minutes to ask us if everything was ok/tasted good even when we hadn't really touched anything. Still, we had a good night and it's nice to know there's a late night hangout with good, high-quality food.

Model Milk
308 17 Ave SW
Calgary AB T2S 0A8
(403) 265-7343
Open Mon-Sun 5 PM-1 AM. No reservations.

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Buttermilk Summer Squash Soup with Cumin Brown Butter

September!

I made my Mac & Cheese with Brussels Sprouts & Ham for the Club Club Community Cookbook Launch & Epic Potluck, leaving me with some leftover buttermilk to use up. A quick search through my Reader picked up this Buttermilk Squash Soup recipe from 101 Cookbooks; one of two in Heidi's repertoire.

I chose this one because it seemed less labour intensive and required fewer ingredients. Because the cumin brown butter features so prominently in the dish, I decided to "splurge" on some whole cumin seeds from Silk Road Spice Merchants - it wasn't really a splurge at all, just $4.49 for the bottle, which was cheaper than I'd expected for an independent company that also imports such rare spices as tonka beans and grains of paradise.


    


Toasting and grinding my own cumin was so worth it - on top of the usual smoky flavour there were some floral notes that I'd never smelled before.

Making the brown butter was also a neat experience - I was so worried about burning the butter, but I just kept it on low heat and let it turn a golden brown, releasing its rich, nutty scent into the kitchen.

The original recipe calls for yellow zucchini, which I bought up at the Farmer's Market despite being more expensive! Green zucchini is fine too, but I somehow thought a yellow soup would match better with the cumin and the butter.


The zucchini is boiled with some sautéed garlic and onions for flavour, and a couple potatoes to thicken things up a little. Since the soup has such few ingredients, a good (preferably homemade) broth would really make it come to its own, but I used regular store-bought stuff and it turned out fine. Light and silky, with just a touch of tang from the buttermilk - yummy!


I served this with a few slices of sourdough that I made from my starter, Eugene. Since then, Eugene has been living in B.'s fridge... drying up a little :S Once I get a new oven perhaps I will try reviving him.

Buttermilk Summer Squash Soup with Cumin Brown Butter
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks
Makes 10 servings

• 1 tsp (5 mL) cumin seeds
  
• 7 tbsp (105 mL) unsalted butter, divided
  
• Sea salt
  
• 2 medium onions, chopped
  
• 2 cloves garlic
  
• 1 lb (454 g) potatoes, cut into ¼" cubes
  
• 2½ lb (1.1 kg) yellow zucchini, cut into ½" slices
  
• ~4 cups (1 L) vegetable stock
  
• 1 cup (250 mL) buttermilk
  
• 1 bunch chives, chopped

1. In a skillet, over medium heat, toast the cumin seeds until they are fragrant. Just a minute or two. Use a mortar and pestle to pound the seeds into a fine powder. Alternately, you can use an electric spice grinder. Set aside. In the same skillet, melt ¼ cup (4 tbsp/60 mL) of butter and cook until it's brown and gives off a deliciously nutty aroma. Remove from heat, stir the cumin into the butter along with a generous couple pinches of salt, then set aside in a warm place. You want the butter to stay liquid until you're ready to use it.
   
2. To make the soup, heat the remaining 3 tbsp (45 mL) of butter in your largest pot or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, and a bit of salt. Sauté for a few minutes, or until the onions start to get translucent. Stir in the potatoes and squash and cook for another 7-10 minutes, or until the squash starts to soften up. Stir in enough stock to just barely cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, roughly 25 minutes. Remove the soup from heat, purée completely with a hand blender (or in batches in a blender or food processor), then stir in the buttermilk. If you need to thin the soup out with a bit more stock, you can do so. Taste and add more salt if needed. Serve each bowl topped with plenty of the cumin butter, and a sprinkling of chives.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 156 calories, 8 g fat (5 g saturated, 0 g trans), 22 mg cholesterol, 18 g carbohydrate (3 g fibre, 6 g sugar), 4 g protein, 454 mg sodium. An excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin K and potassium. A good source of folate (vitamin B₄), magnesium and manganese.

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