It's October!!! Pumpkin season!

This is my favorite time of the year for cooking with pumpkins! Pumpkins were never thought of as food for me when I was younger, because to me, I always believed that the sole purpose of a pumpkin was to become a jack-o-lantern. I always thought that pumpkin pies were not made of real pumpkin because you can't eat those! Little did I know, that pumpkins (squash family), were one of the most delectable vegetables that are incredibly versatile when it comes to cooking!

So, let's start with a pumpkin recipe that always hits the spot when the temperature outside grows chilly!
Pumpkin Soup!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter
1/2 sugar pumpkin, remove seeds and strings, peel skin, cubed
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 stalk broccoli chopped
1 potato, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 large onion, chopped
fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme, onion power, paprika, cayenne pepper
6 cups of vegetable broth (I use water and veggie bouillon cubes)
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat butter in stock pot, add onions and cook for 5 minutes until fragrant and translucent, add celery, carrots and pumpkin, stir and cook for another 10 minutes, then add potatoes, broccoli, herbs and vegetable broth. Set to boil and then lower temperature to medium low for another 20 minutes or until pumpkin and potatoes are cooked. Salt & pepper to taste. Remove from heat and use hand wand blender to puree slightly with leaving some bigger chunks of veggies in the soup. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley. Enjoy!

Sometimes if I feel the soup could also use some pasta, so I'll throw in a small amount of alphabet pasta or any type of small sized pasta (cute stars or other shapes) to the soup and boil until cooked. This is something you can do after you've made your soup and just wanted to add something extra to while reheating! Kids love the alphabet pastas!

Oops! forgot to take a picture of it served in a bowl!!!! LOL! oh well, you can imagine it was yummy!