Washington, 1945
2lbs pumpkin 1 onion 1 oz margarine salt and pepper milk 1 litre of vegetable stock
Cut open pumpkin and scoop out seeds and stringy insides. Slice and chop into medium/large chunks. Place on baking tray and dot butter or marg over the top (if you had garlic in your cupboard you can add 1 or 2 whole cloves to roast on tray too). Roast for 45 minutes or so, turning over once or twice (oven moderate/hot about 22o c ). Meanwhile chop onion, place 1 oz margarine into large saucepan and cook onions gently until soft. When pumpkin has roasted remove skin and place pumpkin pieces into saucepan (and cloves of garlic if available). Add vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer and continue cooking for about 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Place all the contents of saucepan into a blender (or rub through a sieve like they did in the old days and pulse until a thick puree is achieved. Put puree back into saucepan, add lots of salt and pepper to taste and reheat adding milk to achieve desired consistency