You can use the leftover pumpkin from Halloween, or you can use a new fresh pumpkin. Cut the pumpkin into pieces about 2 to 3 inches on a side. Place those in a large pot with water at the bottom adequate to not boil away while steaming the pumpkin for about half an hour. Be sure to cover the pot! (After the water starts boiling, you can turn the temperature down.)
Once the pumpkin is cooked, pour it into a colander to drain the water into a pot or bowl placed underneath. When cool, pour the water into a jar to keep for soup. Use a knife (it doesn’t really need to be sharp) to scrape the pumpkin flesh off the skin. Put it into a pot or bowl and mash the pulp as you would for mashed potatoes. Put some of the mashed pumpkin into plastic bags to freeze for later – for making pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, or just to serve warm with butter, salt, and pepper, as a vegetable with dinner. Keep some aside to use for your soup.
Finely chop an onion (I chop the whole onion, even if it is large, and put the part I don’t use in a jar with a bit of olive oil to keep for later for anything I need onions for… like for scrambled eggs). Do the same with garlic. By the way, I like Vidalia onions best.
Preheat a pan. When hot, add butter and then some of the onion (about ¼ to ½ cup). Fry for a few minutes and then add about tablespoon of the finely chopped garlic. Fry until slightly brown. Then add about a cup or two of pumpkin water. Let that get hot. Then add a cup or two of mashed pumpkin. Add a heaping teaspoonful of chicken flavor “Better than Bouillon”, or chicken bouillon, or add some chicken stock. Then add fresh cream (about a cup) and some additional butter for flavor, along with salt and pepper to taste. After it starts to boil, it is done.
There is a lot of flexibility with this recipe, you can experiment to see what you like.