Happy Autumn! (and a recipe!)

Wee pumpkins on our mantle, for Fall

Last night at 10:29pm was the Autumnal Equinox! That means that today is the first full day of Autumn. I really really love this time of year. I picked up some mums for the porch yesterday afternoon, and we celebrated with an Equinox Feast last night: Apple Cranberry Salad, Pumpkin soup, 13-grain bread and baked apples for dessert.  I meant to take a picture of our table, which we set with our fall-ish table cloth and some candles, but we were all STARVING after a super-busy day, so I totally forgot to take pics until we had already finished eating and the table no longer looked so pretty. Oh well.

But this brings me to the recipe I want to share! I had been planning to make my favorite creamy vegan pumpkin soup for our feast, but we had a full day of homeschool classes and such which had me out of the house until 5:45pm, so I feared I wouldn't have time to make it. So I decided to try making the pumpkin soup in the crock pot, immersion blender, added a can of coconut milk and it was good to go. It took me another five minutes to toss together the salad and slice the bread while the kids set the table, and dinner was ready by 6. I'm pretty sure that the combination of the crock pot and the immersion blender are going to change the way we make dinner here at the homestead. I'm imagining myself making all sorts of delicious crock pot soups and stews to get us through the winter.
and I'm SO glad I did! It really worked out well. I just tossed everything into the crock pot in the morning, and it simmered all day while we were going about our day. At dinner time I just pureed it right in the pot with my recently-acquired

Crock Pot Pumpkin Soup

2 medium onions, chopped in chunks
1 Tbsp olive oil
Good-sized sugar pumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks
4 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons curry powder (add more or less, depending how spicy you like it)
1  can of coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Put the crock pot on high, and toss in the onion and olive oil. Let cook until it starts to soften, stirring every so often while you prepare the pumpkin. Add the pumpkin, broth and spices, and set crock pot to low. Simmer for 6-8 hours, or until everything is soft.

When it's time for dinner, use an immersion blender to puree the soup (or you can puree it in a regular blender, in small batches) Add the coconut milk and adjust the seasonings, if necessary. Serve with a big salad and crusty bread.