Pumpkin Soup

When I think of fall I think of leaves, pumpkins, colder weather & holidays. It's easy for me to start looking forward to holidays & family when leaves start to change color. October = Halloween. A holiday that has started to become much more fun as our kids get older. Then comes November with Thanksgiving. After that it's a short road to December & Christmas. But I won't talk about Christmas yet since we haven't gotten through Thanksgiving (one of Matt's rules :-)). I love Thanksgiving with my family. We cook our turkey (which is of course named Tom, or Bertha, or etc) on a rotisserie. Whenever you walk by the Turkey you're supposed to brush on a combination of melted butter & herbs. We also always have a 4 course meal. Appetizer, Soup, Main Dish & Dessert (if you have room!). For years our soup of choice has been Pumpkin. I love this pumpkin soup! I recently made 3 huge batches of it for a bazaar at church and had it devoured. Now I will share the recipe with you, feel free to add it to your yearly fall memories!

Pumpkin Soup

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

8 slices of bacon, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

8 Cups of Chicken broth

4 Cups of Pumpkin (I usually use fresh, but canned works as well)

2 Tablespoons fresh Thyme

Salt & pepper

Nutmeg

1 Cup Half & half

1. In large soup pot saute Bacon, Onion, Celery, & Carrots in Olive Oil until soft.

2. Add Broth, Pumpkin & Thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Simmer at least 20 minutes.

3. Puree soup in batches in blender. Return to pot, add pinch of Nutmeg and Half & half. Serve.

Garnish with small sprig of thyme & nutmeg. You can also serve with Parmesan or cheddar cheese.

~Bon Appetite magazine.

(I also forgot to take a picture of all that soup I made, so this is not my own picture)