I LOVE FALL! I love EVERYTHING about it! I love the COLORS, I love the SMELLS and the FLAVORS! God was so good to us when He created such richly colored and flavored things like pumpkins. I think pumpkins are beautiful to look at and I love their flavor....in both sweet and savory things. I also love pumpkins because they remind me of the Glory of the Lord. Have you ever seen two pumpkins that look just alike? If you have, then we're ALL going to be rich! You can't show me two pumpkins that are 100% identical to each other...YOU CAN'T DO IT!
Pumpkins are beautiful things...they come in an incredible palette of colors, some have bumps, some have ridges and lines, and sometimes, they are as smooth as silk. Some have knotty stems and some have really beautiful stereotypically formed pumpkin stems. Some might even have a worm hole or two!
God's children are a lot like pumpkins. We have lumps and bumps and we have things that to some, are "not so beautiful", but to others, are just breathtaking. We have lines and ridges...and we can be rigid when we want to be...and at times, we can be as smooth as silk in the outward showing of our personalities. But lumps, bumps or otherwise, God created us uniquely and as incredible individuals...each of us being a total masterpiece in the eyes of the Father. It's hard to remember sometimes that God created the beautiful and the not so beautiful...but to HIM....total perfection. After all, we are created in HIS image!
"So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them."Genesis 1:27
Well, believe it or not, this was what I was pondering today as I made a batch of some really fabulous pumpkin soup. I hope that you will consider it all "food for thought", no pun(kin) intended!
I'll leave you with the recipe that I used, and yes the pictures above were from today's batch of soup. I hope that you'll try it! The recipe is adapted from one that belongs to one of my favorite Food Network chefs, Robin Miller. You can find her exact recipe for this soup by clicking here. I will include my recipe below, since I have a couple of things that I add in addition to Robin's INCREDIBLE recipe. I hope that you enjoy it! And if you are looking for economical...THIS IS YOUR RECIPE! For those of you who are fellow American Frugal Housewives...you'll love it!
SMOKY PUMPKIN SOUP WITH CUMIN
1 can (15 oz.) of canned pumpkin**, ~OR~ 15 oz. of fresh cooked pumpkin
1 ½ cups of reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup milk (I use Horizon Organic 2%)
1 pinch ground sage
1 pinch ground cinnamon
½ tsp Sun Crystals (or other sugar substitute like Splenda)
15 turns of the peppermill
¼ tsp. sea salt
1 pinch ground bay leaves (or 2 whole bay leaves)
**MAKE SURE that you do NOT buy the pumpkin pie mix! It should be the PLAIN canned pumpkin!
Whisk all of the ingredients together over medium heat. Serve hot! If you like a smoother texture, you can process the soup through either a food mill or a food processor for a smoother puree. If you are not a cumin fan, or if you are not sure if you are, then you may want to start with ¼ tsp. of cumin and then work up from there. I love it, so I use the 1 tsp. that it calls for.
Enjoy!