Fall Goodness

Instead of letting the pumpkins I had as our centerpeice rot like I usually do, I decided that I oughta use them, so I made pumpkin soup. It was kind of a pain to chop up the pumpkin, boil and puree it, but it was so worth it. The pumpkin was SO sweet. I was eating it plain by the spoonful before I had even started the soup. Lincoln was too. He kept coming back for more. It made our house feel so warm and cozy. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

     3 tablespoons margarine, softened

     1 tablespoon brown sugar
     1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
     4 slices whole wheat bread
     1 cup chopped onion
     2 tablespoons butter, melted
     2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
     1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
     1 teaspoon salt
     1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
     1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
     1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
     1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F(200 degrees C). Combine butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Spread butter mixture evenly over one side of each bread slice. Place bread, buttered side up, on a baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until bread is crisp and topping is bubbly. Cut each slice of bread into 8 small triangles or squares.

2. Saute onion in butter in a medium saucepan until tender. Add 1 can chicken broth; stir well. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes.

3. Transfer broth mixture into the container of a blender or processor. Process until smooth.

4. Return mixture to saucepan. Add remaining can of broth, pumpkin, salt, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground pepper; stir well. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally..

5. Stir in whipping cream and heat through. Do not boil. Ladle into individual soup bowls. Top each serving with cinnamon croutons.

Instead of doing the croutons according the recipe, I used a baguette that we had let dry out. I melted the butter and brown sugar together and drizzled it over the top of the baguette I had chopped in pieces. I didn't use any salt at all in the soup cause the chicken broth was salty enough and I added a little brown sugar. I used Lincoln's whole milk instead of whipping cream and added a little nutmeg and it turned out fabulously.

YUM!!!