Pimiento Mac and Cheese — The Soup That Says the Season Has Turned

October, and the fall has arrived with the Lowcountry's annual golden shift — the marsh grass gilding, the light angling lower, the air cooling just enough to make the piazza usable again. The fall is my favorite season, the season of the azalea's rest and the garden's harvest and the kitchen's deepest work, the work of soups and stews and the slow cooking that the cool air makes possible and the warm air makes impossible.

Carrie has been considering her next step. The considering is Carrie at her most Carrie: deliberate, analytical, the spreadsheet of options that she creates for every major decision. The options include: return to Emory to finish her degree (two more years), apply for a master's program in education, apply for a teaching position in the States. The considering is the uncertainty, and the uncertainty is new for Carrie, who has been certain since she was fifteen, and the newness of the uncertainty is the growth, and the growth is the two years in Japan that taught her that certainty is not the same as correctness.

I have been writing the Librarian's Table with the daily discipline that the retirement has made possible — five AM at the desk, coffee, the manuscript growing chapter by chapter, the pairings of food and literature becoming a book that is both a cookbook and a reading list and a love letter to the two things that have saved me: books and cooking.

Robert has been building a dining table extension — a leaf that will expand the antique dining table by two feet, "for when the family gets bigger," he says, and the "bigger" is the future, and the future includes Elise, and the including is the building, and the building is Robert's vote of confidence in the family's expansion.

I made pumpkin soup — the October soup, the fall opener, the soup that says the season has turned and the turning is delicious and the delicious is the life.

When Robert finished sanding that new leaf for the dining table — two extra feet of welcome for the family that is still becoming itself — I knew the soup I made that evening had to be worthy of the moment. Pumpkin soup is my October ritual, the recipe that announces the season more clearly than any calendar date, and this year it felt like more than habit: it felt like a declaration that there is room here, at this table, for all the uncertainty and all the hope that the fall has carried in.

Pumpkin Soup

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 cans (15 oz each) pure pumpkin puree
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Pepitas and a drizzle of cream, for garnish

Instructions

1. Sauté the aromatics. Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute more, until fragrant.
2. Bloom the spices. Stir in the cumin, nutmeg, smoked paprika, and cayenne. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly, so the spices toast gently in the butter.
3. Add the pumpkin and broth. Stir in the pumpkin puree and pour in the broth. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, to allow the flavors to meld.
4. Blend until smooth. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup directly in the pot until completely smooth. Alternatively, transfer in batches to a blender, venting the lid carefully.
5. Finish with cream and maple. Stir in the heavy cream and maple syrup. Season generously with salt and black pepper. Return to low heat and warm through for 5 minutes without boiling.
6. Serve and garnish. Ladle into warmed bowls and finish with a scatter of toasted pepitas and a thin drizzle of cream.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 210 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Carbs: 18g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 310mg