Pumpkin Soup from My Favorite Italian Cookbook

This soup is easy, quick, and cheap. What more can you ask? The original recipe calls for spaghetti in the soup, but that just sounds horrible to me. To give the soup a little texture, I don't blend the finely chopped onions.

1 lb. peeled pumpkin (I buy it already cubed, which is what makes the recipe so quick.)

1/4 cup butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 cups milk

pinch of grated nutmeg

salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese, if desired, to sprinkle on top

Cook onion in butter until it softens, stir in pumpkin, cook for a few minutes more, add chicken stock and cook until pumpkin is soft. Puree in blender. Return to pan and add milk and seasonings. Ta da.

I've used another method for this. Steam the pumpkin and then mash, blend, or use beaters to get it smooth. You can freeze the pumpkin if you want at this point. Then to finish soup, cook onions in butter and then add rest of ingredients. This way you can cook up a bunch of pumpkin at once and have it on hand for super quick soup.

It's Not the Kringle We Grew Up With, but It's Doggone Delicious

1 cup butter

2 cups flour

1 cup sour cream

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons water

1. Cut butter into flour until crumbly, stir in sour cream and mix well. Form dough into ball and cover tightly, refrigerate over night.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Have filling prepared (see below).

3. Divide dough into 3 equal parts, keep two parts in the refrigerator. Form dough into rectangle and roll out on floured surface until it is approximately 12" by 17". Put 1/3 filling down center. Cut strips on two sides about an inch apart. Alternating from one side to the other fold each strip towards the center like you're braiding. Repeat with rest of dough to create 3 danishes. Arrange on lightly greased baking sheet.

4. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool 30 minutes and then drizzle powdered sugar mixed with water on top. Ta da.

Filling: You can use prepared filling, or jams that aren't too sweet, but we liked this easy prune filling the best. You can make it with any dried fruit.

1 1/2 cup pitted prunes, lightly packed

2/3 cup water

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1/3 cup brown sugar

Simmer ingrediants until very soft and most of water has evaporated. Remove from heat and mash. Finished.