Butternut Squash Soup with Sage

This week one of the wonderful recipes I made was based off of the Butternut Squash Soup with Sage on allrecipes.com. As my self-confidence in the kitchen has improved over the past year, I've begun playing around with recipes according to my family's tastes or what I have on hand. 
Here's how I changed this one up!



Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil--used olive oil
• 2 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes-- roasted first and used one whole butternut and one whole carnival squash
• 2 medium Granny Smith apples, cored and sliced-- had golden delicious on hand
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 cups Swanson® Chicken Broth-- used 4 cups of the brand I have on hand
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine-- didn't use
• 12 fresh sage leaves-- didn't use
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground sage

Directions

1. Heat oil in saucepot over medium heat. Add squash(didn't do this as was already roasted, set it aside for step 3), apples and onion and cook until almost tender. Stir in sugar, coriander and red pepper*** I may have put a little too much in, it was plenty kickin'. For kids I'd omit entirely. Cook and stir 2 minutes.
2. Add broth. Heat to a boil. Cook over low heat 10 minutes. or until squash is tender(just did it to cook the apples and onion more but did not add squash until step 3).
3. Place cooked squash mixture in food processor, using a slotted spoon. Cover and blend until smooth, adding enough cooking liquid to make soup of desired consistency.
4. Heat butter in small skillet. Add sage and cook until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels. Reserve butter in skillet. Divide soup among 4 bowls. Drizzle each with sage butter and garnish with fried sage leaves(did do any of 4!).

I actually would have liked to try the sage butter but just didn't have the fresh stuff on hand. 

Instead I fried up a couple strips of bacon to sprinkle on top. Bacon tends to make everything better, right? Served with whole wheat bread and grapes. All the kids ate it(18mos-3 1/2).

Feel free to share your squash recipes! I have a dozen in the basement to play with and would love suggestions.