Pumpkin Soup

Fall is coming! When the leaves turn amber and citrine, and pumpkins grow bigger than basketballs. When she was little, we used to take Lauren to Portola Valley's Webb Ranch and let her pick out a pumpkin to carve into a Jack O' Lantern. I remember the clean smell of cornstalks, and the sight of little one's heads bobbing up and down, searching for the perfect pumpkin. "I got one!" they'd yell. Fall is also a perfect time for pumpkin soup. Here's an easy one the Whitson clan has been making for years. From "The San Francisco Junior League Cookbook" circa 1979. Serves 6 to 8.

4 T butter
4 green onions and tops, chopped
 1 small onion, minced
2 T flour
4 C chicken stock
3 C pumpkin puree (Libby's Libby's Libby's)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t mace
1/4 t white pepper
4 C chicken stock
3 C pumpkin puree
1/2 t salt
1/2 t mace
1/4 t white pepper
3/4 C fat-free half and half
Croutons and/or whipping cream

Directions:

Melt 3 T of butter until foamy, add onions and sauté until limp. Sprinkle with four, cook and stir for 3 minutes, then gradually add chicken stock. Cook and stir until smooth and thickened. Add pumpkin puree, seasonings, and half and half. Reheat without boiling and adjust seasonings to taste. Stir in remaining 1 T butter until just melted. Serve immediately, topped with croutons and/or a swirl of whipping cream. To swirl cream, float a T or so of heavy cream in the middle of a bowl of soup. Take a knife and starting from the center of the cream, swirl the cream out into a spiral on top of the soup. It should float! Then, put on chopped green onions or a few croutons. Pretty!