Jnr: What’s for lunch?

MsAnn: Soup.

Jnr: Not soup.

MsAnn: Soup.

Jnr: What sort of soup?

MsAnn: Monster.
[Standard family response to a daft question or one which one does not want to answer]

Jnr: No, really, what sort of soup?

MsAnn: You taste it and see if you can tell me.

………………………….

Over the last six weeks one of the perennial ingredients packing out our organic veg box has been one of the less popular, time-consuming-to-prepare, tough-skinned, recalcitrant members of the gourd family. They are quite decorative and are a colourful addition to any veggie still-life, but when you get three of them backed up on the counter, they take up considerable cubic capacity and something has to be done.

…………………………..

Jnr: Eurgh. Pumpkin. It’s pumpkin soup.

MsAnn: Pumpkin and red pepper. It’s not ready yet. I haven’t blended it or added the yoghurt. It’ll be lovely. You’ll see.

[Jnr makes no comment but leaves nonchalantly by the back door, and ambles towards the garage where his Dad is working on Jnr's bicycle.]

…………………………..

pumpkin,
originally uploaded by biteykins.

On Halloween we often do the traditional thing and make pumpkin lanterns, except that there is a price to pay. Because these seasonal gourds are a foodstuff, and I hate wasting food, I won’t just scoop out and throw away the pumpkin meat inside the ‘lantern’. I cook it, and my family have to eat it.

……………………………

J: We’re just off to Halfords to get some bits for the bicycle.

MsAnn: Lunch is nearly ready.

J: We won’t be long. He needs an new inner tube.

……………………………

Over the years we have had pumpkin curry (quite successful), roast pumpkin (not so popular), pumpkin pie (inconsistent result, but can be very good when I get it right), pumpkin jam (sweet stuff is not my strongpoint), and pumpkin soup, my favourite to make; it requires a great deal of therapeutic chopping with the heftiest kitchen knife, plenty of stirring and simmering in my favourite large blue saucepan, or The Vat, as J calls it, and the application of a power tool, namely my industrial strength blender.

…………………………….

[The sound of the car pulling up. J and Jnr enter.]

MsAnn: Soup’s ready.

J: Oh. You made soup. We had lunch. We had a pasty on the way back from Halfords.

MsAnn: What? But I told you lunch was nearly ready, just before you left.

Jnr: We didn’t get you one because we know you don’t eat them. [Gives a bit of pasty crust to the dog]

J: Yeah. We came over hungry. We were just passing the Crib Box. Shame about the soup.

MsAnn: But you knew I was making soup.

Jnr: The pasties were Dad’s idea.

J: Traitor.

MsAnn: Well, thanks very much, the pair of you.

……………………………….

They haven’t got away with it entirely, though. As long as you do it before you add the yoghurt, pumpkin soup freezes very well indeed. MsAnn has a large number of ‘tub-it’ containers which are perfect for a situation like this.

They are now stacked in the top drawer of the freezer, each one full of spicy, bright orange pumpkin soup.

Their day will come.

……………………………….

Musical accompaniment. The pumpkin chord.

……………………………….

Last Modified : June 17th, 2007 Filed under : comestibles, fortywhatever, knives, soup Navigate : Previous post / Next post