Day 299.

The year is quickly winding down! I've gotten quite a few emails in the past few days wondering what will happen to this blog at the end of the year. 

Nothing. 

It's not going anywhere, but I do reserve the right to take a vacation! I'm kind of a bit pooped.


This soup beats the pumpkin out of the disgusting black bean and pumpkin soup that I made last week.

The flavors in here are rich and distinguished. 

It's completely fat-free until you add the cream, which is optional. 

To cut back on cream consumption, I measured out 1 tablespoon per family member and we stirred it in ourselves at the table. 

The kids adored this and renamed the soup "Sunset Soup." 

Adam and I then tried to sing "Sunrise Sunset" for them, but we only knew those first two words, so we just sang them over and over again. 

It was dorky and sweet all at the same time.

:-)

How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Soup in the CrockPot Slow Cooker

The Ingredients.
This soup will serve 6 grown-ups.




2 cups of fresh pumpkin, or 1 (15-ounce ) can
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 yams, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon turmeric (this was the first time I bought turmeric, and I do think it's a necessary spice)
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

TO ADD LATER:
--heavy whipping cream, 1 tablespoon per family member (optional)
--garnish with chopped green onion (optional)


The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker.

I bought a pumpkin specifically for this recipe. 

I had huge plans to cut out the flesh, discard the strings and seeds and cook the fresh pumpkin. 

The kids had other plans, and took the pumpkin from me, wrapped "her" in baby blankets and played house for a few days. 

When I got "her" back she wasn't quite as hard as she was when I first brought her home from the store. 

I wasn't terribly worried until I committed pumpkincide and cut into her and found a disgusting black moldy mess.

Mrs. Pumpkin Head is now in the compost bin.

SO! If you have fresh non-squishy and moldy pumpkin, go for it. 

Otherwise, open a can of pure pumpkin and use that.

:-)

Empty it into your crockpot, and add the chopped vegetables. 

Add the spices and sugar. 

Stir in the vegetable broth and water. 

I really don't think it matters one whit what gets added first. It's soup. It's going to cook together all day long.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Carefully use an immersible blender to blend about 3/4 of the soup. 

If you have littles in the house with texture issues, feel free to blend it all.

Serve with a bit of cream to stir in.

The Verdict.

Gorgeous. This is a gorgeous soup. I love it. 

The kids enjoyed it (they liked it better when it turned yellow with the cream), and Adam and I liked it an awful lot.

 I'd most definitely serve this to guests.

Super good.

Are you having a potluck this Halloween? Here are a bunch of Halloween-type slow cooker recipes to please the goblins in your neighborhood! 

have a happy day!!