Jack-O-Lantern Soup!

Jack-O-Lantern Soup, adapted from Barbara Kingsolvers' Pumpkin Soup in it's own Shell

1 five lb. pumpkin (if smaller or larger, adjust the amount of liquid)
Cut a lid off the top, scoop out the seeds and stringy parts, and rub the inside flesh with salt. Set the pumpkin on a large roasting pan.

1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
1 quart milk
1 cup whipping cream or heavy cream
½ cup fresh sage leaves (use less if dried)
2 cloves roasted garlic
2 tsp. sea salt
Pepper to taste
2 tsp. nutmeg

Roast garlic cloves whole in oven or covered pan on low heat, until soft. Fill pumpkin with all ingredients and bake at 375° for 1-1.5 hours, depending on the thickness of your pumpkin. Occasionally open lid and check with a spoon, carefully scraping some inside flesh into the hot liquid. Do not over scrape the inside or you will lose your beautiful tureen (but don't worry, nothing will ruin the incredible taste of this soup!)

When finished roasting, ladle out ingredients and whatever pumpkin can be easily scraped from inside the shell into a pot on the stove. Use an immersion blender to blend the ingredients, or just use a blender.

Return to the pumpkin shell and await the silence of success!

Optional garnish of sage leaves