Our Halloween pumpkin was still nice and firm, since we hadn’t hacked it up, and friends had pressed half of a humongous butternut squash into my hands when I stopped by to gift them with half a loaf of pumpkin bread Esther had made, so there I was with a surplus of squash on my hands.

Usually I have to figure out what to do with all that turkey after Thanksgiving, but this year we got a 10 lb bird and there just wasn’t much left. The pumpkin was another story. Then a friend gave me half of a really big butternut quash. There was nothing for it but to break out the soup kettle.

Since Halloween pumpkins don’t have a lot of flavor, being bred to be Jack-O-Lanterns rather than pies, I thought I’d roast them to punch up the flavor a bit. So I cut the pumpkin into quarters, scooped out the seeds and pulp, saving the seeds for toasting, and baked them at 400 degree (f) for an hour, until they started to get a bit of color. I didn’t peel them before hand, because pumpkins are a hard shape to get around, so I just scooped the baked pumpkin off with a spoon.  The butternut squash got better treatment, being peeled before they went into the over. Likewise one and a half Spanish onions, which I quartered before roasting. A few handfuls of baby carrots got nothing more than a quick scrubbing before being tossed onto the baking sheet. Everything was sprayed with olive oil, then sprinkled with kosher salt before going in.

With all the vegetables already cooked, I could use my trusty propeller blender on the soup as soon as I put everything into my 8qt kettle with two quarts of chicken stock.

Seasoning the whole thing was pretty straightforward.

• Cumin (2 Tbs)
• Curry, mild (1 Tbs)
• Black Pepper, fresh grind (1/4 Tsp)
• Salt (1 Tbs)

And frighteningly, that’s the long and short of it. I checked it, and it’s mild, but pretty good.

I do have a pint of sour cream (light) that I’ll probably whisk in before giving samples away.