October is harvesting time for pumpkins, which decorate the landscape and accent the holiday festivities that take place across the United States.  Everywhere you go, the classic harvest displays bring about an air of positivity and thanksgiving.  

According to internet research, pumpkins are grown in all 50 states, with Illinois being the largest producer by far—accounting for 40% of US production. While you see pumpkins wherever you go in our state, Georgia does not rank among the top pumpkin producers in our country.

While Central America originated pumpkins, China, India, and Russia are the top three producers worldwide.  The United States ranks fifth.

Fall has never been a month for international travel for this aficionado of pumpkin soup, so when traveling overseas, harvest scenes are not in my mind’s eye, as is the case with US travel.

I don’t know anything about pumpkins and the bountiful scenes they may create in Great Britian and France, for example, but since farming is very important to those nations, I am sure that there are some interesting pumpkin facts to enjoy while you are sipping on a glass of Bordeaux.  Maybe even pumpkin pie for dessert. You would expect French chefs to create something unique and special with pumpkins, as they seem to do with everything else.

I am sure that there are pumpkin patches where other cultures do as we do.  Find a pumpkin patch and pick your own pumpkin to decorate and enjoy cooking.  I remember having lunch with a farmer in Southern France one summer and the hostess served pumpkin pie.  It made me feel at home.

In addition to pumpkin pie, there are several dishes made from this delightful fruit.  (Yes, pumpkins are a fruit; any plant that has its beginning as a flower is designated as a fruit, cursory research confirms).

• There is pumpkin bread, which is made from pumpkin puree and other ingredients.
• Also, pumpkin lasagna which involves the use of pumpkin puree, noodles, and cheese.
• Pumpkin Chilli whose main ingredients are pumpkin puree with spices and meat.
• Pumpkin Soup.

I discovered pumpkin soup on a trip to Jamaica in the seventies and could not get enough; ordered it at lunch every day of the trip.  I even asked for it at breakfast one morning but the smiling waiter who had become a friend, smiled and said, “Oh no, mon—you only get it at lunch and dinner.”

Have never seen pumpkin soup on a menu anywhere but in the Caribbean.  I think I will ask my local catering friend, Lee Epting, to make a pot of pumpkin soup for me.  Bet he could make it just like they do “down the way where the nights are gay and the sun shines daily on the mountain top.”

It likely was made many years before the Europeans came to the Americas.  When pumpkins were taken home to Europe in the 17^th century, European chefs were excited to make pumpkin soup a staple of their menus.

However, in all my years traveling in France, I never had the occasion to order pumpkin soup anywhere.   I can only imagine what it would be like to order a bowl of pumpkin soup in some village with a dash of cognac, surely making it a memorable occasion.

Pumpkins are very healthy and low in calories.  The seeds are highly nutritious.  Rich in vitamin A and C, pumpkins are high in fiber and protein.  Roasted pumpkin seeds are very popular.

Now to segue into a favorite story about a well-known football coach. One of the most colorful characters in college football for years was the late Dee Andros.  He was the head coach of the Oregon State Beavers located in Corvallis, Oregon.

Oregon States’s colors are orange and black.  Andros was 5’ 10” and weighed almost 300 pounds, and when he dressed in all orange, he got the nickname, “The Great Pumpkin.”

He was truly colorful and a delightful raconteur.  When I asked him about his nickname, he said, “Well them Oregon people call me ‘the great squash,’ but I don’t care what you call me—as long as you call me to eat.”