Butternut Squash with Leek Soup

I found my camera!!! I know you were all on the edge of your seats and praying daily for me. You can stop all that now. I left it at my mom's house taking pictures of my carved pumpkin. Not Michael Landon didn't feel like carving his own, which means it's still sitting on my porch waiting to be made into soup (or pie, he hopes).

Anyways, I did not find my camera before I made this soup. I'll post a picture next time I make it - it is neon orange. Very fun and festive. It's also pretty easy - the original recipe came from some random generic 30 minute meals cookbook I got ages ago. It normally takes me longer than that, but only because there's lots of chopping and peeling and I don't like to dirty 3 pots by cooking everything at the same time. I also make large batches because it keeps well for a good long while (although doesn't freeze great) and Not Michael Landon will inhale any left lying around.

He loves loves loves this soup, which is amazing considering his culinary tastes usually don't stray far from the meat and the potato, and a safe salad here and there. This is fairly gourmet sounding. Maybe it's the potato that endures it to him, it does mellow it out nicely. On top of all these benefits, this soup is ultra healthy and cheap. How can you go wrong?

Ingredients
1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1" cubes
2 medium russet potato, or 4 new potatoes, chopped into 1" cubes (peeled if you really want, but it adds extra nutrients and it'll just be blended up anyways)
2 tbsp butter or olive oil
1 leek, sliced
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup milk
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
1. Roast the butternut squash seeds in the oven with a squirt of oil and a dash of salt to snack on while you're cooking. They're like pumpkin seeds but smaller and nuttier, with better texture.
2. Soften the squash and potatoes. I usually steam/boil them one after the other in the same pot (not the same water), but I've been meaning to try roasting the squash.
3. Meanwhile, soften the leeks in your choice of fat.
4. Toss the (drained) squash and potatoes in with the leeks, and add stock and milk. Don't worry about mashing or ricing because...
5. Blend it all up. I bought an immersion blender pretty much solely for this soup. It makes it eleventy billion times easier. But I've done it in batches in my regular blender too, and it works, it's just a little messier (be sure to use a towel as a lid instead of the hard plastic one, to avoid hot liquid explosions).
6. Serve with some yummy bread - I'll post my olive oil bread soon.