Autumn Harvest Soup

I was in a rather good mood today. The weather was a beautiful 76, not a cloud in sight.

Then just one little breeze brushed my face and I realized this was the eve of the Autumn Equinox.

Living in New England, the coming of fall is more than just a season change, it is a life change. Our shorts are replaced with pants, tank tops are worn under a sweater and nourishment is heartier.

In celebration of welcome I made what I call "Autumn Harvest Soup". This is my own creation, feel free to change it to suit your personal tastes.

Ingredients

1 small sugar pumpkin
1 small butternut squash
4 apples
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 tbs brown sugar
4 tbs butter
1 pint cream
1/2 c water

Preheat oven to 350

Cut the pumpkin, squash and apples in small cubes. Add the pumpkin,squash and water to a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with pumpkin spice and bake for about 90 minutes or until soft.

After baking, add butter and brown sugar to a soup pot and heat slightly until the sugar starts to melt. Add all ingredients but cream. Mash everything together and let simmer on very low for about another hour. If the soup is too chunky for you, toss it in the blender. Add cream before serving, mix well.

**** I like to taste the tarty goodness, but once in a while, I will add 1 cup of sugar to the pot and caramelize before adding the rest of the ingredients and omitting the cream to make more of a sweet dessert, great over vanilla ice cream!