Pumpkin Soup

This week we read THE cutest little book called Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper. In it the characters Duck, Cat and Squirrel love to make pumpkin soup. They learn important lessons about friendship and how important it is to let everyone help...even if it makes a bigger mess in the end :) We loved the story and the illustrations that were in this book...so much, in fact, that it inspired us to make our very own Pumpkin Soup!!

Before we get started you just have to know....this soup is AMAZING!!! I had never made it before, but man, it is delicious!! And also, what's better than homemade soup? Homemade soup with homemade rolls!! My favorite to make our the Lion House Rolls, http://dealstomeals.blogspot.com/2009/02/my-favorite-roll-recipe.html,

they come out perfect every time!

Ok, now on to the soup! Remember before we get started, the WHOLE point of this is to let your kids help! Its gonna get messy, its going to take way longer than it needs too, and they are going to be SO proud of what you did together :)

My sister-in-law Becky's Amazing Pumpkin Soup

2 large onions, chopped

1 lb bacon, chopped

2 15oz cans pumpkin

2 C water

4 C apple cider

1/2 C brown sugar

8 cubes chicken buillon

2 apples, unpeeled and chopped

salt, to taste

1 tsp ginger

First up:

While your bacon and onions are cooking chop up your apples. Sidenote: I did all my chopping while the kids were napping and then put them in baggies. Then when we were ready to start my kids dumped everything in the pot and didn't have to stand around while I chopped.

Once your bacon is almost completely cooked through drain most of the grease and put in a big pot. Then add pumpkin, water, apple cider, brown sugar, chicken buillon, apples, salt and ginger.

My kids favorite part? Taking the wrappers off the buillon cubes. Whatever works, right?! And how precious are those little hands?!

Once you have all the ingredients in the pot you want to cover and let simmer for 1 hour. The soup needs to be stirred frequently, so it was actually quite nice to have 3 little helpers...they all got plenty of turns!

Doesn't that look gorgeous?
Once your soup is done simmering you want to blend to thicken it in blender-size batches. Why no pictures of this step? Maybe its because on 3 different occasions my delicious pumpkin soup exploded out the top of my blender and covered a good portion of my kitchen and myself...maybe :)

But besides the blender debacle, the entire process was a blast! True, I have a mountain of dishes to tackle this morning, but we had a great time and a delicious dinner. My kids were so proud of THEIR pumpkin soup, and it was fun to spend some good quality time with them in the kitchen.

Even though the book was for them, it reminded me that everyone needs to feel important and capable, and by letting our children try things they can't do quite perfectly yet, we are helping them take pride in themselves and their accomplishments.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!! We have lots more pumpkin fun coming up and maybe another yummy pumpkin recipe or two :)