Fall is here at the College of William and Mary, and with it come all of my favorite autumnal foods and activities. From apple and pumpkin picking to drinking hot cider, fall is full of wonderful memories for me. One of my favorite things to do on a chilly fall day is to curl up under a blanket and enjoy a good bowl of soup. One may ask, what type of soup? There is only one answer for me. What other soup could possibly scream autumn more than the wonderful sweetness of butternut squash?
As soon as the temperature dropped below 80 degrees, I was counting the days until Cosi to would bring back this autumnal classic. Every day, I would go into Lodge 1 to see if they had updated their menu, but to my dismay, I have not once seen the words “butternut squash” appear anywhere this semester. It is now the very end of October, and my favorite soup is nowhere in sight. My relationship with butternut squash has been a tumultuous one at best. As a child, I absolutely adored it, but as adolescence set in, that same adoration morphed into hatred. The thought of the sickly sweet squash was nauseating.
Last year, however, I experienced an epiphany. Right there in the hallowed halls of Lodge 1, I worked up the courage to try butternut squash again, this time in the form of soup. It was a cold, rainy day, and something about the soup was calling to me. I walked up to the line for Cosi and nervously placed my order. My bout of courage paid off, and I became addicted.
To say that I ordered butternut squash soup at least once a week would not be exaggerating, although it did cause me to spend nearly all of my dining dollars. Now it is my favorite time of the year again, but not once have I been able to enjoy the sweet, aromatic soup that I enjoy so much. Instead, I am forced to settle for the tomato basil bisque, which is lovely, but does not taste like fall in a bowl. The other day, I went up and asked a worker when the butternut squash soup would return, but the only response I received was, “I don’t think it is,” and a shake of the head. My hopes were crushed with that single utterance. I no longer count down the days anymore and continue to settle for tomato bisque.
While I still yearn for butternut squash, I now turn to Swemromas and their hot apple cider to satisfy my fall cravings. However, there is still a hole in my heart that used to be occupied by Cosi’s butternut squash soup. All I ask of Cosi is to consider bringing back my beloved soup, so as to let students like myself enjoy fall to its fullest.
Email Zoë Connell at zsconnell@email.wm.edu.