Violets for the Soul

Though it’s my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving is a bittersweet time for me. Just beneath the anticipation of gathering with loved ones, of the feast to come and all the laughter and togetherness, there’s an undercurrent of sadness. I feel a longing for the presence of dearly missed family members and friends who are no longer with us.

But I know they’ll be at the table, if not physically. We’ll see them in the likenesses of grandchildren bearing family traits passed down through the generations. We’ll hear them in the stories repeated year to year, and we’ll feel their guidance in carefully preserved recipes, pulled from binders, boxes and digital files as a ritual of remembrance.

Like cuttings from a garden, these passed-along recipes are the perennials of our past. For me, they trigger memories of the cherished cook along with waves of gratitude and the tastes of Thanksgivings long ago: Mother’s cornbread dressing and roast turkey, my sister’s green bean casserole and Texas Trash, Great Aunt Margaret’s sausage balls and spiced pecans, Aunt Louise and Uncle Emmett’s stuffed mirliton and oyster-artichoke bisque (“If you want to make a real hit with your daddy with this dish,” they wrote to me as a 20-something newlywed in 1978, “be sure he gets the bay leaf in his bowl.”)

With each bite, I can feel a virtual hug from above.

Special friends come to mind, too. It’s not fall in my house, y’all, until I find my friend and former colleague Gail’s recipe for Gobble Gobble Pumpkin Soup and set it on the kitchen windowsill in the pumpkin-shaped place card holder she gave me years ago. At the top of the card, she wrote: “Perfect Start to Thanksgiving!”. It’s a tangible reminder of Gail and the many reasons we all loved her: a smile that never failed to light up the room, her generous spirit and boundless energy, an uncanny ability to mark any occasion with the perfect song (and all the lyrics, word for word), her vast collection of colorful reading glasses, the joy we shared in Making Cancer History® together at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

I don’t think she’d mind my sharing her recipe, and I know she’d join me in wishing a happy Thanksgiving to all.

Gobble Gobble Pumpkin Soup

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1 large white onion, sliced

3/4 cup sliced green onion, white part only

1 16-ounce can pumpkin

4 cups chicken broth

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Few sprigs of parsley

2 cups of half and half

Salt and pepper

Melt butter in 4- to 6-quart saucepan over medium high heat. Add onions and sauté until soft and gold brown. Stir in pumpkin, broth, bay leaf, sugar, curry powder, nutmeg and parsley. Bring to a simmer uncovered 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer soup in batches to blender or food processor and purée. Return to saucepan and add half and half and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes, but do not allow to boil.