Autumn's cooler weather and the comforting warmth of a rich, hearty soup are a perfect pairing.  I especially love to make soups out of all the wonderful seasonal squashes that are so plentiful at this time of year:  butternut, pumpkin, sweet dumpling - the list is endless. Their palette of colors even coincides with the changing leaves. Sometimes I use a mix of varieties, but this time I decided to use just acorn squash, which I have decided is probably my favorite of them all. It has richness and depth, almost a nutty flavor, which is even further enhanced when roasted. I had actually asked my husband to grill some the night before, but it never really softened enough to be as palatable as I would have liked (next time I will par-boil it first), so I decided to cut it into chunks and cook it in the crock pot for a few hours with some vegetable broth before pureeing it into soup. Boy, was it delicious!
Squashes are related to melons and cucumbers and were growing wild throughout the New World when European explorers first arrived. They are divided into summer  and winter varieties: Summer squashes  are thinner-skinned with smaller seeds, and winter squashes are thick-skinned, more fibrous and have larger seeds, which can be toasted and eaten as a snack or garnish for soups or salads. The fact that winter squashes are so hearty makes them a great harvest food that can be stored over the winter. There are any number of recipes that feature squash - both sweet (such as pies, cakes, breads and muffins), as well as savory (roasted, stewed, mashed, pureed, and of course soups).
While doing research for my latest book, The Thousand Dollar Dinner (a culinary challenge that took place way back in 1851) - I found out that soup actually had a rather showy place at 19th century dinner parties, usually brought to the table in fancy soup tureens and placed in front the lady of the house. If there were two soups, a tureen was situated at each end of the table. The serving process was slow and deliberate – the wait-servant would hold the soup plate close to the tureen, passing one ladle full to each person. Rules of etiquette dictated that “soup should be eaten from the side, not the point, of the spoon, and there should be no noise when sipping.” And apparently asking for “seconds” was considered rude and strictly impermissible!
The soup I created here might not be the type typically served from an elegant soup tureen ... BUT it is perfect for lunch on a chilly fall day!