Pumpkin soup

We bought a pumpkin today and I thought it's a pity to to discard the flesh and the seeds, so I made pumpkin soup from the flesh and baked the seeds.
The seeds were quite small, not easy to open after it got baked, but to my surprise we could eat it with the hull as well.
I cooked the flesh (of an aprox. 2 pond pumpkin) in 1 quart of water with salt, pepper until soft. I boiled 2 cups of milk with 1 bay leaf, 3 cloves, 1/8 of nutmeg, orange peel(1 orange), set aside for 10 minutes and poured thru a screen. In a blender I pured the soft cooked flesh with the water it cooked in, mixed with the spicy milk, bring to boil again.
It can be served with cream and a real nice thing to do is to serve it in the pumpkin, that is baked at 375F for 20 minutes.
Using kabocha squash makes the soup look really beautiful orange and the taste is much nicer. That's just my personal preference.

We carved the pumpkin this time and is decorating our balcony with a little candle inside.
Suz.