Curried Squash & Mushroom Soup

I love to make soup, so on this chilly Juneuary day, I decided to start working my way through Molly's soups. I was encouraged by Suzanne saying she has liked several of Molly's soups from this or other cookbooks. I chose the Curried Squash & Mushroom Soup on p. 15 because my husband would eat a shoe if it were flavored with curry, so I figured it would be an easy sell. But, here I go again, there's just not enough flavor to this soup for me, or maybe I should say there's too much flavor, but it's all orange.

The recipe calls for a whole cup of o.j., which I had misgivings about considering you only use 2 1/2 c. water, and that's your liquids. Yep, it's really orangey. I've spent the last half hour adding more and more cayenne, which I never do, 3 tsp. curry powder, several dashes of hot sauce, and lots more salt. I think it's okay, but my husband won't be asking for seconds. Thankfully I'm serving it with a salad and salmon, so it's not the main course.

Here's what I think: this recipe can't decide if it's supposed to be sweet or savory, so it's neither. But I know people who really like orange and this would probably be a lovely soup for them. Me, I love oranges, but eaten out of hand, not on my steak, not infused into my chicken, and not overwhelming my curry soup. So, onward . . . I think I'll try the Hot & Sour next.