This will *more* than fill a standard size pot, (sorry, I have no clue what size my pots are)

1. 1 Small to Medium Jack-O-Lantern (See Jack) -Cut into slices, removed from skin, guts removed completely (You will know this is done properly by the colour) and chopped into 1/2 inch squares ready to be boiled. You only actually need about 2 cups of Jack!
2. Either 1 Slow Cooker or 1 Large Pot
3. 1 Potato Masher
4. Spoon (For Stirring)
5. Milk, Spices, Margarine,
6. Potatoes chopped into 1/2 inch squares ready to be boiled- Generally 4-6 Medium ones does it for straight potato soup, so take one out for every cup of pumpkin you want to use.
7. 1 Medium to large Onion, 3-4 sticks Celery, (Chopped and Browned/sauteed)
8. Other Vegetables as desired.
9. Skillz (See Below)

Skillz that help are, first and foremost, the ability to cook. If you can't actually cook from scratch. you can cheat by using cream soup packages, but those are difficult to adjust to taste, so honestly, it's easier to do this from scratch.

• Oh.. and did I mention that this can be done in Vegan?? (Just replace the Milk with Soy)

Oh yeah, before I start, sorry for the bad photo edit, just didn't want to use people without asking them first so it was safer to edit them out.

Honestly, I came across this by accident, I was having a party a few years ago on the weekend after Halloween, (Or Samhain) and had just finished a cream of potato soup, but found it a little bland. Asking my husband to pass me the pumpkin he was about to throw out was a whim. (And for the record, He was probably thinking the same thing you probably are right now.) The first time I used pumpkin, I over-did It, but it was a hit, so, I thought I'd share it.

Don't over-do the pumpkin. By this, I mean that you do NOT want one hundred percent pumpkin in your soup. You want to balance it with potato, or another cream soup. You do *not* want pumpkin pie in soup form, because pumpkin as natural sugars, when it boils down it is sweet. While you can balance too much salt by adding potato, pumpkin has a unique taste that is hard to balance if you overdo it.

Start by boiling the pumpkin. Yes, the pumpkin. It is harder than the potato and will, therefore take longer to boil.

When it is partially done, add the potato. A good way to measure time is to put the pumpkin in, then cut and saute the celery and onion,

By then, it should be about time to add some more water and the potatoes. Don't forget, this is supposed to be "Cream" soup, letting the water boil off isn't going to to hurt anything, unless you're vegan, but this recipe has been done with milk, soy and water with no harm to anyone, except a little change in flavour.

When you can, mash the potatoes and the pumpkin,(very well) add the milk, water, or soy until it JUST covers the mix, then add a couple cups of water.

Add the celery and onions that you have sauteed and set aside, (Now would be when you add all the other vegetables as well.)

add spices to taste, (Fresh garlic added to the onions and celery while you're frying them works really well)

Put this all on low for a couple hours, stirring regularly, especially if it is on the stove because of the sugar, and enjoy. It's not as strange as it sounds. I promise.

As for what to do with the potato peels and the leftover pumpkin??