Mumsy's Curried Pumpkin Soup ...p24

Pumpkin soup?  We've come a long and creative way from chicken noodle, beef vegetable and tomato soups and fall is warmer for it.  If you haven't tried some of the exotic soup recipes, be daring.  Carrot soup, avocado soup, butternut squash - they're all terrific.  I recently tried a black bean soup off the internet that was amazing - its secret ingredient - orange juice.  I added my own secret ingredient of a roasted poblano pepper which really made it pop! 

But back to pumpkin soup.  If you don't like curry, don't worry (sung to the tune of don't worry, be happy) - the flavor is very subtle.  This is the perfect fall soup.  Complete it with a flavorful roll like sourdough or dark whole wheat and a salad.

Hardy Appetit!

Pumpkin Pie Crunch ...p111

There in my cabinet loomed a large can of pumpkin yet unused from Thanksgiving.  This was the motivation I needed to make an almost unheard of treat in our home barring the holidays - dessert.

Except for slicing two sticks of butter

and chopping pecans with my favorite Uli knife,

this was a very simple "cake" to make - much like a dump cake (a term that causes my kids to squirm and question what the heck the ingredients are, while I pray that Nana doesn't mutter her favorite word during our exchange!)

But, of course, why would she with this wonderful variation on the pumpkin theme - pie or cake, whatever you call it, it's a rich, delightful dessert that will feed a crowd.

 

  

Not sure why - maybe my oven's off, or maybe the humidity was too high, but the 50 min. of cooking I anticipated turned into 1 hr. 30 min before my knife came out clean.....  Make it ahead if you don't wanna keep them waiting ;-) 

Hardy Appetit!