Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

So, this recipe is modified from Epicurious.com - our favorite recipe site. I was looking for a recipe with butternut and apples that didn't use heavy cream and this was a good one! We enjoy the recipes and especially the comments from others who use them because we tweak and change things all the time with our recipes and the comments from other cooks really helps with that! Our modifications are in parenthesis. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Makes 8 Servings

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp (1/4 stick) butter
1 Lg Onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
4 1/4 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch cubes (we used a medium sized butternut squash from the garden)
4 1/4 c. (or more) vegetable broth (we had chicken broth on hand, so used that instead)
5-6 apples, peeled, cored, diced (used about 5-6 medium sized apples from orchard)
*Recipe calls for 1/2 c. apple juice, but instead we upped the amount of apples*
Light sour cream
Chopped fresh chives

Preparation:
We will post how the "recipe" calls for this, but we sautéed the onion and nutmeg til they were brown and then put all the ingredients into a big crock pot for a few hours on high, left to go on a hike up the bluff, and came back to a great meal! We recently got an immersion blender and it's fantastic - used for the first time on this soup and it was great! Recommended if you have one, otherwise, the blender works well.

Recipe directions:
Melt butter in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and nutmeg, sauté until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Add squash, broth, apples (*and apple juice, if using). Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer uncovered until squash and apples are tender, about 30 minutes. Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return soup to pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with sour cream and chives.