After roasting pumpkin halves and scooping out the pulp, the empty shells were quite hard...and just the right size to fit a soup bowl into.

I love it when October and Halloween roll around each year, not because of the spooky stuff or candy treats, though I can’t deny enjoying a bit of both…but because of all the pumpkins suddenly waiting to be turned into soup.

I’ve made soup out of our used Jack-o-lantern on occasion, and despite their being bred for size and sculptability, I’m happy to say that the generic store bought pumpkin works just fine in soup. This year I picked up a smallish four pound Sugar Pumpkin at Trader Joes, thinking it would be bursting with flavor. Unfortunately, as I was cutting my way through it, I realized that the best pumpkin in the world still needs to be ripened to get its flavor out, and this one wasn’t quite there yet. Roasted alongside the butternut squash and a few poblano peppers it came out all right, but not as right as it might have been. Lesson learned.