_It's a total drag. First I was sick over NYE but made the best of it with hot toddies and boggle while hanging at the coast with friends. Getting over it I thought "hey, that wasn't so bad for my once a year cold" then
-BAM- I got this heinous upper respirtory/sinus infection that made my head want to explode and my lungs hurt from coughing so hard. The last to go.. my voice. I sound like a dying cow as I type this.  Yesterday our basement flooded and today I had a full cord of heavy maple delivered in the RAIN. I just loooove stacking soggy wood, lemme tell ya.
So waaa waaa waaaa.. this is what I was craving after being sick, tired cold and achy and it really did the trick. (and it's easy as hell.)

(confession: just this once... squash pic - not mine, though I did "polaroid-ize" it. Bottom pic: view from my kitchen window)

Curried Pumpkin (or Butternut Squash as it were) Coconut Soup:

Cut small pumpkin or butternut squash in half.
Remove seeds and place on baking sheet face up with a pat of butter/olive oil on each piece.
Lightly S+P.
Bake at 375 for 30-45 or until soft. Set aside.
-or-
Lazy style (preferred): Cut in half, scoop out the seeds, slice to 1.5" and steam until Soft (10 min?). You can easily scoop out the flesh from the skin once it's cooked.
-meanwhile-
In a soup pot saute with butter and/or olive oil until golden (about 8 min):
diced onion and/or leeks
garlic and/or shallots
2 diced carrots and 2 diced celery
and a diced parsnip if you have one on hand
S+P and 1Tbsp curry powder* (store bought or from scratch below)
When the squash is done, scoop the flesh out of the squash and add to the onion mix. 
Stir and saute for 2-3 more min.
Add 3-4c chicken or veg stock, 1 can of coconut milk and stir until blended. Blend with an immersion blender
(if you don't have one, you should totally get one because they're awesome - especially for making smoothies. If you don't have one, you can put half of the soup in the blender or all of it if you want a really creamy soup.)
ok - after you blend the soup to your desired consistency, add another Tbsp of the curry powder to finish along with S+P as desired.
Stir and cook on low for a few minutes then remove from heat and let sit a few more before serving.

The kicker is the curry blend. I have this cookbook "1,000 Indain Recipes by Neelam Batra and she has this amazing 15 spice curry recipe that I made a batch of one day, and now I can never go back to store bought. if you have a mortar and pestle or clean coffee grinder, and some time on your hands it's sooo worth the effort! (and your kitchen will smell amazing for days!)
here it is:

*15 SPICE CURRY POWDER (toast and grind herbs separately)
1/2 cup ground coriander seeds (dry toasted in pan then gound)
1 cup ground cumin seeds (dry toasted in pan then gound)
2 tablespoons ground turmeric
1 tablespoon ground paprika
1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tablespoon ground dried fenugreek leaves
1 tablespoon ground fennel seeds (dry toasted in pan then gound)
1 tablespoon ground black cardamom seeds (dry toasted in pan then gound)
1 tablespoon ground green cardamom seeds
1 tablespoon ground dried ginger
1 tablespoon ground fenugreek seeds
1 tablespoon ground black peppercorns
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Store in an airtight container. If the thought of dry toasting then grinding seems a bit much, at the very least, do it for the cumin. It's the BEST!