Velvety Pumpkin Soup. . .

My husband found this recipe last year on allrecipes.com. Here is the direct link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Velvety-Pumpkin-Soup-With-Blue-Cheese-and-Bacon/Detail.aspx

Ingredients:

2 (15 oz.) cans pumpkin

1 quart chicken stock

1 c. half and half

1 shallot, minced

1/4 c. molasses

2 T. butter

1 t. pumpkin pie spice

1 t. salt

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

6 slices of bacon

1 c. crumbled blue cheese

Directions:

1. Stir together the pumpkin, chicken stock, half and half, shallot, molasses, butter, spice, salt, and cayenne pepper in a large stockpot over low heat; simmer 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place bacon in a large skillet and cook until crispy, remove to paper towels to drain, then cool and crumble.

3. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with bacon and blue cheese.

e-notes:

We did not do the shallot. I honestly think it would not be good in this soup. My husband did 1 T. of butter instead of 2 T. (for my sake - he's so good). He did a scant less than 1/4 t. cayenne pepper. He could probably do the full 1/4 t. for his sake, but for mine and the kids he did a little bit less. It depends on how spicy you like things. I read some comments and some people thought it was the perfect amount, and others halved the cayenne. We bought bacon bits instead. Well I think last year we bought bacon bits. I just looked and this year we used a bag from Oscar Mayer called "Real Bacon" (it was already cooked and crumbled). We just let people put how much bacon and cheese they wanted into their own bowls. We did not use nearly 1 c. of blue cheese. I probably put a 1/2 t. - 1 t. in my bowl. Ben maybe a little more? The kids? None. (I had them try it first.).

But let me say I absolutely love, love, love this soup! It is soooooo good. Ben loves it every bit as much. Delicious. One of my favorite meals at the moment and my favorite soup. YUM.