It's October, no doubt. Although ... the weather feels more like summer at the moment. But the leaves start changing colors, that's a pretty reliable sign. The year went by so fast, don't you think? A little over three more weeks and it'll be Halloween.
I first learned about Halloween from a Mary Poppins book as a child and I was so jealous because it wasn't celebrated in Germany. In the countryside there used to be something similar, only there were turnips used instead of pumpkins. Now I didn't know too much about pumpkins anyway except that my grandmother made them kind of sweet and sour which I absolutely hated. Today I love pumpkin soup - even if I'm not a great cook I make a pretty decent one - and if I can ever get around to making it - even being a worse baker than a cook - I'll show you the pumpkin-coconut cake for which I got the recipe from a friend. So yummy.
Ok, let's celebrate the pumpkin first, shall we? We don't even have to sit in a patch and wait for it!
I brought you some sweet (not sweet and sour! ;-)) pumpkin items from all over Europe and I very much hope you'll enjoy.
And now pumpkin soup for non-cooks like me:
- a pumpkin (butternut, Hokkaido, whatever you like unless it's a decorative pumpkin ;-)), cut up in small cubes
- potatoes, cut up in small cubes
- cut onions
- vegetable broth or just water
- salt, pepper, nutmeg, paprika, cayenne ... experiment, it's what I do
- milk or cream if wanted
Start with roasting the onions in a big pot, then add the pumpkin and potatoes (don't worry about the cubes, that's just to give you an idea how to cut them). Mix and then add the broth or water and the spices. More water, more soupy ... less water, more mushy.
Let that cook/simmer for about 25 minutes, then check on your cubes. You think they are done? Then it's time to get tough and to mash them. More or less, that depends on how chunky you want it to stay. Add a little milk or cream if you like that.
Of course you can also add meat or sausage or whatever you like. I'm a vegetarian, so that's no option for me. What I do is I take some mozzarella, cut it up, put it into my bowl and then add the soup which will make the mozzarella melt while I'm eating.
Oh dear. Now I'm hungry. I still have half a pumpkin in the fridge .......
