Jan's Pumpkin and Tomato Soup

Fall in a bowl.  It's suddenly gone from August to November then back to October.  The leaves on the trees across the street from my office have give us their glorious color show and are starting to fall to the ground.  We wore jackets to the office this morning.  It's time for fall in a bowl. 

Now if you could just help me convince Mr. I'll Wear Shorts in a Blizzard that we need to turn the heat on at the house...  But, maybe if I crawl into bed wearing a hoodie sweatshirt, sweats and socks then cover up with a blanket, bedspread and quilt, he'll get the message that frost on MY nose is NOT a good thing - lol.  Yes, dear, I know you read this and I know we've saved oodles on the electric bill.  But, relying on Gracie the cat to keep me warm at night isn't a good idea.  Ok, so that being said, this soup is wonderfully warming.


The combination may sound really strange to you.  It did to me when I first read the recipe.  It's from a dear friend by the name of Jan.  She's one of the buddies my mom hangs around with.  Is hangs around with good terminology for a group of eighty-something year old ladies?  Well, at any rate, they're a hoot to be around.  Jan's got this great outlook on life that's just amazing.  Don't you love knowing folks like that!  I'm very lucky to have her as a friend also!!

Jan's Pumpkin Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

1T butter or olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
1-2t curry powder (to taste)
1/4 - 1/2 t freshly grated nutmeg (to taste)
14.5 oz can pumpkin puree
14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
14.5 chicken broth
1/2 c cream - if desired


Directions:
Saute onion in olive oil until it's softened.  Sitr in the curry powder and nutmeg. 

Stir in the pumpkin.  Drain the stewed tomato liquid into the pot then chop the tomatoes pretty well.  I've made the mistake of just dumping the tomatoes in and have wound up with these big honking pieces of tomato... not a pleasant deal. 

Add the chicken broth and  cook for at least 20 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. You can either add the cream or not and puree the soup or not.