Roasted Squash Soup

This stuff is killer, but it takes hours, so be forewarned. It isn't hard, it just takes a long, long time. But your kitchen will smell really, really good.

2 butternut squash
2 acorn squash
8 tbsp butter - real butter. REAL butter.
8 tsp or so dark brown sugar
4 or 5 carrots
1 large onion
10 cups of chicken broth - use canned.
powdered ginger
sage
cayenne pepper or a very little bit of Tabasco

Preheat the oven to 350. Cut the squashes in half lengthwise (this takes strength and a big serial killer type knife.) Scoop out the seeds. Put a tbsp of butter and a tsp of sugar in the cavity in each squash. Put the squashes skin side down in a roasting pan - actually, you'll almost certainly need 2. Peel & chop the carrot & the onion. Put them in the roasting pans too. Pour about 2 cups of chicken broth into each roasting pans and cover tightly with foil. Stick in the oven and ignore for about 2 hours or a little more.

Take out of the oven and let cool a bit. Scrape the squash flesh off the squash skin (doesn't that sound fun? Try not to burn your fingers.) and into a big pot. Pour everything else from the roasting pan into the pot too. Heat it up. Add more chicken broth until it seems right. Add the sage and ginger and salt and pepper and maybe a little tabasco until it tastes right. Then puree it all in the food processor, reheat it, and serve it. It is beautiful and orange and rich and delicious.