The perfect Friday night dinner

Everyone has favourite thank-God-I-have-2-days-off meal. Most times, we tend towards pizza, but yesterday we were feeling to lazy even for that.

Thankfully, I'd hit up one of my favourite shops on Thursday: Nancy's Cheese. It was here that I was introduced to the joys of sheep cheese. It's so much better (read: less gamey) than goat.

Best of all, Nancy always gives samples of whatever it is you're looking to buy! And I'm definitely a girl who loves her samples.

So, Thursday, I spent the better part of 40$ on 4 wedges of cheese.

I regret nothing.

Friday Night Dinner

Sweet, delicious Friday:

• a bottle of Malivore Gamay
• one sliced Honeycrisp Apple
• pumpkin pecan bread from Whole Foods
• Beemster XO cheese - cow's milk aged gouda with butterscotch notes
• Moliterno - sheep's milk cheese with truffle
• Zamorano - unpasteurized sheep's milk cheese
• Brie - unpasteurized cow's milk
• tarragon orange olives

Life is good.

As a bonus, here's Thursday night's dinner recipe. It's amazing and was also served with delicious cheeses.

Roasted Butternut Squash & Shallot Soup

From Cooking Light

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2/3 cup soup and 1 teaspoon chives)

Ingredients

• 4  cups  (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 4  large shallots, peeled and halved
• 1  (1/2-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, thinly sliced
• 2 1/2  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 2  tablespoons  (1-inch) slices fresh chives
• Cracked black pepper (optional)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a roasting pan or jelly-roll pan; toss well. Bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Cool 10 minutes.

3. Place half of squash mixture and half of broth in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large saucepan. Repeat procedure with remaining squash mixture and broth. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Top with chives and pepper, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 112 (20% from fat)

Fat: 2.5g (sat 0.4g,mono 1.7g,poly 0.3g)

Protein: 3.3g

Carbohydrate: 22.4g

Fiber: 3.6g

Cholesterol: 0.0mg

Iron: 1.6mg

Sodium: 266mg

Calcium: 84mg