Last night I had a sick guest come to my house. She had some stomach issues so I was told I couldn't make anything heavy like a steak or something like that. I decided that I would make a pumpkin soup made from a winter pumpkin, hot chocolate, and that's it. I made some steamed broccoli so we would have some veggies.

I first boiled the peeled squash in hot water until it was soft. After it was soft (about 20 minutes) I took out the seeds and pushed the whole thing through a metal mesh. I added this to a blond roux I mixed with milk and stirred till it became soupy. I seasoned this with salt and maple butter.

I thought I had cocao powder in my pantry but I didn't. Luckily I had a chocolate bar with 60% chocolate. I chopped this up and added it to heated milk while stirring constantly. It tasted like a powdered hot chocolate mix. It wasn't the best hot chocolate in the world but it is nice to know what you can make on the fly with just milk and chocolate.

I should have guests more often to my house. It makes me think more about the possibilities of what can be done with limited ingredients.

Dan