Last night when I’d been to a birthday party I heard someone say „it’s still so cold and it’s already November“ (cold meaning like 15-20° at night) and I thought to myself how weird this sounds as for me it’s normal that November is cold, I associate November with cold weather and not with summer.

For me as a big autumn and winter person it’s actually so hard to live in a country where it’s summer during the European winter months, I don’t think it’s something I will ever get used to. Getting reminded everywhere on social media how dark, cold and cozy it is in Germany and other European countries during this time of the year doesn’t make it any easier. And even when it’s winter in Australia and it does get colder it’s just not the real deal, no autumn colours or snow, at least not here where I live in Queensland (the „sunshine state“..).

It also makes me sad to not experience a real Christmas and everything that belongs to Christmas time, it’s just my favourite time of the year and this year is my second time in a row for me to not be in Germany during that special time of the year. It’s nearly impossible to get into Christmas mood in Australia but that doesn’t mean I’m not trying..

Because I miss autumn and winter so much I implement some things in my life that I associate with these seasons so that I can at least create a little bit of a cozy mood within myself despite it being summer outside my window.

For me the easiest way to do this is through certain smells and flavours so I try to make a lot of „autumn and winter dishes“ or use Christmas spices like cinnamon.

One of my favourite autumn dishes is the good old pumpkin soup. Not only does it taste delicious, it’s also super quick and easy to prepare.

For 2-3 servings you will need:
1 butternut squash
200ml coconut milk/cream
1 garlic clove
1/2 onion
coconut oil or butter
salt, pepper, curry powder
optionally some nuts and greens as topping

Cut your butternut into small pieces and cook them until soft (they don’t need to be super soft). You don’t have to peel your butternut, I never do, but that’s up to you.
Cut your onion and garlic into small pieces and roast them in a pan with a bit of coconut oil or butter. Add your soft butternut pieces to a blender or food processor (or use a blender stick), add the onion garlic mix and the coconut milk and blend everything together. Depending on your preferred soup consistency you might wanna use more or less coconut milk.
All you need to do now is to season your soup to taste with some salt, pepper and curry.
If you like to, you can add some toppings to add some extra flavour and make your soup look pretty. This time I chose some kale and roasted hazelnuts as toppings.

Enjoy! <3