I heard it echoed at the Harvest Lunch that I was the "pumpkin lady" - I hope not quite so round as the pumpkins which Andrew grew! Many people asked me for the soup recipe so here goes :

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 medium onion

2 garlic cloves

6 tablespoons oil

1.5 kg (31b) pumpkin

2 bayleaves

300ml (1/2 pt) milk

300ml (1/2 pt) single cream

Method:

1. Chop the onion, crush the garlic and saute in the hot oil until the onion is transparent.

2. Peel the pumpkin and cut into lcm pieces. Add to the onion along with the bayleaves. Cover and cook for 15 minutes until the pumpkin is soft. (As I was catering for a minimum of 75 people, I cooked the pumpkin in three different ways, i.e. microwave, boiled, and baked in the oven - I added a knob of butter to each).

3. Transfer to a liquidiser, add the milk and blend until smooth. (I added vegetable stock instead of milk). Add the cream and reheat gently before serving. You can make the soup less concentrated or more concentrated by adjusting the amounts of liquid (vegetable stock, milk, cream).

As a footnote, I would like to thank everyone for their great help and support on the day - it was a "first" for me being the "lead" for the Harvest lunch and thanks to you all, it proved very successful and I enjoyed the day immensely.

Sylvia Searle

This recipe first appeared in the Ramsden Bellhouse Baptist Church Review - Winter 2005 Edition.