Updated: Nov 15, 2021
UPDATED FROM A NOV. 2020 POST
FULL RECIPE CARD ON BOTTOM OF POST.
I hope everyone had a happy, safe and fun Halloween. We sure did!
Traditions are important, Even though this year, Halloween was different, we were able to keep one of our fondest traditions. Foods play a big part in traditions or fond memories. Just like the excitement I still feel to see mom make something as simple as English muffin pizzas! Check out important links.
Visit my category Halloween and Thanksgiving for delicious holiday recipes.
A little back story: When we were kids, here on Long Island, we would trick-or-treat right after school, never at night in the dark. If it falls on a weekend, like this year, then all day long, from around noon until dinner time, under normal circumstances. Halloween 2021 was much better. Check out my post.
My maternal grandmother, who lived in the same house as us, always made a special dinner. She used to make mashed potatoes and carrots, so the side dish would be orange and she'd use green and black olives to make a pumpkin face in the potatoes in the round bowl. When she died in 2001, our kids, her great grandkids, still wanted to keep up the tradition. So, my mom took over.
Please visit my YouTube Channel, subscribe, hit the bell for notifications so you don't miss any new videos and give a thumbs up to the videos you like. Feel free to share and comment/ask questions. (check out my category Halloween and Thanksgiving.
You won't have to do as many steps as we do in the video. See instructions below.
About 11 years ago, my sister needed her tonsils out as an adult. After the surgery, she asked mom to make her sweet potato soup. Mom did. Everyone loved it. Mom made it for Halloween one year when it happened to be exceptionally cold out. The kids, my sister's are much younger than mine and my other sister's kids, started to call it Halloween soup! Hence, the name and the tradition. We now make a HUGE pot every year and everyone comes to eat.
Mom and I make A LOT of soup, so it took us much longer than it would anyone making a normal amount - an amount not for 30 people. No, we didn't have 30 people here all at once this year, but we made the same amount so we could send some to other homes and, of course, for some lovely leftovers.
Let's get started:
Gather your ingredients. Wash, peel and chop your celery, carrots and onions. Put them into the pot with softened butter.
Place the pot of celery, carrots and onions onto the stove and start sautéing them. Add salt and stir. Stir often, don't let them burn. We made a lot, so it took a long time for it to cook down. (see video above)
We peeled and roughly cut all of our sweet potatoes and Russet potatoes while the celery, carrots and onions were cooking. At one point, we did take the pot off the heat and move it to a cold burner until we were ready to add the rest of the ingredients. (see video)
Mom used her food processor to chop all the potatoes to the right size. You don't have to do this. If you aren't making a lot, you can chop them yourself. (see video)
Move your pot back onto the big burner and add in all your potatoes. Then add your vegetable stock and water. As I said, we made a vat, so we used 6 boxes of gluten free vegetable stock. Depending on how much soup you are making, you will have to judge for yourself. If you prefer, you can use chicken stock.
Bring the soup to a boil and let cook until vegetables are all very soft. Stir often. Add salt to taste.
When everything is cooked well, it's time to blend. We use an immersion blender. If you don't have one, you can use a conventional blender. Either way, be very careful, the soup is HOT.
Because we make so much, it's impossible to blend that amount at once. So, mom puts some into a smaller pot, blends it, puts the blended soup into a third pot, and continues with this process until there's a small enough amount to blend the last batch in the original pot. We then pour all the soup into one big pot and I get to wash ALL the pots eventually!
You probably won't have to do this, since you won't be making as much as we made. You can blend in the pot with an immersion blender or in two rounds with a conventional blender.
Serve and enjoy!
One year, so many people came for soup in various groups and shifts, that we had none left! Yes, the whole pot went. Being that pot can feed an army, I was impressed. It only happened one year. Word got around that cold Halloween and EVERYONE came to Mom's/Grandma's house for some soup. That's what she's called, mom or grandma by family, friends and neighbors.
For more of my heartwarming soups, visit my YouTube Playlist.
We were blessed with a fun visit from my daughter's friend's baby, who was dressed as a duck. That's my daughter singing a silly song and playing with the baby in the above video.
My son made ham and mozzarella pinwheels, cheeseburger sliders and vegan sliders to bring to my daughter's house. He didn't give me the recipes, he winged it, made it up as he went along. He gave me permission to post these pictures just to show the Halloween foods everyone enjoyed and to give ideas to those who may want to make their own versions.
Halloween was happy, fun, successful and delicious. After all, food is the heart of all we do, but it's not the only thing we do. It just plays a big part. I hope you all made it special in your own way this year. Who knows, maybe you discovered a new tradition!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN and here's to a wonderful holiday season!
Broccoli Cheese Soup, Roasted Butternut Squash Soup (Gluten Free, Vegetarian), Vegetable Bean Soup, Pea Soup, Lentil soup, and Gluten Free Vegetable Dumpling Soup. Can you tell, I really like soup? All soups are gluten free/Vegetarian and some are vegan or easily converted to vegan.
I'm a soup lover in the cold weather. Check out some of my other soup recipes above. Don't forget to visit my Youtube playlist. Happy cooking. Stay warm, get cozy and enjoy some delicious comfort food.
Ingredients:
All ingredients are one to one - if you use one sweet potato, then use one russet potato, one carrot and one onion (if you use a large Spanish onion then use half per count). If you use ten sweet potatoes, follow the same equation.
Sweet potatoes
Russet potatoes
Carrots
Celery
Spanish onions (white if that's all you have)
Butter
Gluten free vegetable broth
Water
Salt