Hallowine Soup Day

This year Halloween fell on, you guessed it.... Soup Day so we decided to be at least a bit festive and keep Halloween in our thoughts by making, you guessed it again, PUMPKIN soup. On the web there are many recipes for pumpkin soups, It was difficult for Mike to pick just one to make. Various people had told us how to prepare a real  pumpkin but he opted to use a regular can of pumpkin puree. Neither of us are real fans of pumpkin so what would we do with the remainder of an actual pumpkin? The  recipe Mike chose only called for an 8 oz  can ( or half a regular can).

The soup was a little different too because, just like French onion soup, it included crouton triangles of bread, spread with cinnamon , butter and brown sugar that you crisp up in the oven and then float on the top of the soup. Sound delicious doesn't it? The soup itself was very simple,- pumpkin ,spices, butter , chicken broth and whipping cream, It turned out very well . It was tasty and the croutons just seemed to dissolve in your mouth, Quite a treat indeed. Changed our minds about pumpkin and the soup  easily earned   10 this week.

However the crowning glory of this soup day was the wine we had brought when we were on vacation in Door County on Sturgeon Bay in Wisconsin. At Door Peninsula Winery we took a trip through the winery , tried ( and bought and drank )some of the wines and then at the last minute bought their special wine especially for Halloween. It is called called Hallowine. Clever. This came in a lovely pumpkin colored and decorated bottle that looked very seasonable of our table so we reckoned even if the wine was only so-so the bottle would be a nice memento. The wine was a semi sweet apple wine spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg and it did complement the soup well. It tasted even better on the following evening when we warmed the wine and had it with some fruit and brie cheese and crackers. Ahh the good life of old retired people...

On the back of the bottle it told the legend of 
Hallowine.

In 1665 Reginald W, Hallow brought his unique blend of fall harvest apples and mulled spices to ferment in the crisp Door County air, He dubbed his creation Hallowine then mysteriously disappeared ( creepy music insert here,,,,)

334 years later Door Peninsula Winery honors Hallow's legacy conjuring up the distinctive autumn flavor of the region for a limited time. One sip and we're sure you'll agree It's so good its scary!!