summer squash soup

a very simple soup. i find that soups are one of the easiest things to make magnificent and memorable with only a gentle touch. other foods can be 'good' even 'great,' but a sublime soup shows up much more often, i think. our own zucchini are not quite harvest ready in the little back yard garden we've got going, but squash is dirt cheap at the farmers' market since the plants produce a huge amount. one of the doctors at my work grew up on a farm in wisconsin and she related this adage, 'you can tell the people who have no friends if you see them buying zucchini at the grocery store.' which didn't sound dirty at all at the time, but when i repeated it to some friends at the bar that night all context had evaporated away leaving only a single and crude entendre - and me not getting what i had just said. anyway, i sauteed three or four fresh (golf ball size) onions, roughly chopped with any of the good looking green bits thrown in as well, with two or three cloves of garlic until soft and fragrant. then, i added four pattypan squash (mine were about fist sized, but a little more or less will not this recipe break), roughly chopped, and sauteed for another 10 minutes on medium heat. at this time i added a tablespoon of dried dill (fresh is fine, i had none) and enough vegetable stock to cover everything up. bring to a boil, cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes or so before having at it with an immersion blender. i served garnished with chives and sour cream. also delightful chilled.