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Return the bean puree to the kettle and simmer for 5 minutes over low heat. Thin with stock or water if necessary.

Serve hot, with a dollop of sour cream atop the soup in each bowl. Reheat as a snack anytime.

SERVES 6 TO 8. Serving size: 1 cup.

Chicken Soup

1½ tablespoons vegetable oil

11⁄3 cups diced skinless chicken

1 quart chicken stock

2⁄3 teaspoon lemon juice

1⁄3 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ cup diced zucchini

¼ cup diced yellow squash

¼ cup diced green beans

¼ cup diced asparagus

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken and cook well over medium heat.

Combine the chicken, chicken stock, and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Add the salt and pepper and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the zucchini, squash, green beans, and asparagus. Cook for 20 minutes.

SERVES 4. Serving size: 1 cup of soup.

One steaming bowl of chicken soup will be a wonderful way to break your fast in the morning. Also, roasted vegetables work deliciously in this soup. Use them in place of the zucchini, squash, green beans, and asparagus.

Pumpkin Soup I

2 tablespoons (¼ stick) butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2½ cups milk

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 cups canned pumpkin puree

1 quart vegetable stock

2 egg yolks, beaten

Melt the butter in a large saucepan.

Blend in the flour, using a whisk.

Over low heat, slowly add the milk, a little at a time, stirring constantly until the mixture is a smooth sauce.

Combine the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, brown sugar, and pumpkin in a large bowl. Mix well and add to the saucepan.

Add the vegetable stock and simmer for 5 minutes.

Temper the eggs by pouring a little of the hot liquid into them. Mix well and pour the eggs into the soup. Simmer for 5 minutes.

SERVES 6. Serving size: 1 bowl.

Pumpkin Soup II

1 large pumpkin (about 3 pounds)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1¼ cups milk

2 cups vegetable stock

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

One 8-ounce container sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Split the pumpkin in half. Remove the seeds and save them.

Put both pumpkin halves, cut side down, in a deep broiling pan with ½ inch of water. Bake for 40 minutes.

While the pumpkin is cooking, thoroughly wash the seeds. Pat dry and sprinkle with salt. Toast the seeds in the vegetable oil in a hot skillet and set aside.

Remove the pumpkin from the oven and let cool. When cool enough to handle, scoop out the meat into a large bowl, about 2 cups. Freeze any leftovers in 4 portions for use later.

Put the milk, vegetable stock, and pumpkin in a medium saucepan and heat, mixing thoroughly, until all the ingredients are blended.

Serve hot. Sprinkle on the cinnamon and to each bowl add a spoonful of sour cream and a few sprinkles of toasted seeds.

SERVES 4. Serving size: 1 cup.

I often make this soup from scratch during October, when pumpkins are available everywhere.

Consommé Double

2 quarts store-bought chicken stock

1 medium onion, diced

2 celery stalks

3 garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

4 pounds chicken backs and necks, fresh or frozen

Fill a generous pot with the chicken stock and 1 quart water. Add the onion, celery, garlic, and bay leaves. Boil for 20 to 25 minutes.

Put the pieces of chicken, fresh or frozen, into the stock. Boil vigorously for 1 hour.

Take the pot off the stove and let the contents cool.

Skim off any scum at the top, then strain the broth. (I pour it through a four-ply cheesecloth in a strainer.)

Place the strained broth in the freezer in 6 small packets (1½ cups per packet) so the entire batch does not have to be defrosted.

SERVES 6. Serving size: 1 cup.

This broth is made even better if you can use the frozen necks, gizzards, and livers from turkeys that you have roasted. Because we are starting with chicken stock instead of water and making the stock much stronger by cooking it with pieces of poultry, the broth is called a consommé double.

Refrigerator Soup

When I want to warm up