Tonight and the next couple days promise to give us a little advance taste of the coming cold of winter. The weather man keeps telling us that a wide spread killing freeze is coming to our area tonight…..I believe him!
We are in that awkward phase in the Midwest between hot muggy summer days and cold freezing winter days. Some of our days are absolutely beautiful and warm; they are dry, sunny and golden . Tomorrow, according to the weather man, does not promise to be one of those days.
This afternoon we spent some time digging out the sweet potatoes as I have heard they cannot be left in the ground when there is a killing freeze. I have never grown sweet potatoes but thought I would give them a try this year. I only planted a couple of plants and was curious to know how they did. There were not a lot of them but it will be fun to try to make sweet potato fries……when I find a recipe.
There are also many hills of regular white potatoes that are needing to be dug out. Fortunately those are not quite as fussy as sweet potatoes and can stay in the ground a little while longer. The pie pumpkins need to be picked and put somewhere to be stored until I have some time to cook them out, puree, and freeze to be used for pies, muffins, bars and breads later in the year. The harvest season is always busy with a variety of things to do.
I am grateful for the time between soybean harvest and combining field corn. That is when my husband has time to do the digging up of produce. It always seems to be a race with the weather at that point. Usually the weather pattern is unsettled and it can range from beautiful to rainy and sometimes even flurries of snow.
With the cold weather coming I was in the mood to make soup. This morning I decided to make Cream of Cauliflower Soup. (I also add Broccoli if I have it.) I got this recipe many years ago from a friend named Ethel. We always joke that pretty much any recipe that has Ethel’s name on it is going to be good…..and they always are! (She might be the local version of Betty Crocker!)
Anyway, here is the recipe for the soup:
Creamy Cauliflower Soup
1 large potato (peeled and diced)
1/2 cup celery (chopped)
1/2 cup carrots
1 head cauliflower
Cut all vegetables and cook 15 minutes till slightly tender.
Put in crock pot.
Add:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
2 soup cans milk
1/2 pound cheese
Cook about 4-6 hours in crock pot.
NOTE: I do like to use a bag of California Mix frozen vegetable in place of the head of cauliflower.
you can also use broccoli instead of cauliflower.
For the cheese I use Velveeta as I like the smooth texture it gives.
This makes a large batch and is wonderfully smooth and creamy. I have a feeling it is not a diet soup but I like to console myself that during the busy seasons a person needs a hearty soup.
May you also enjoy the warm comfort of a bowl of soup on a cool fall day.
I think that women just have a primeval instinct to make soup,
which they will try to foist on anybody who looks like a likely candidate.
Dylan Moran
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/soup.html
Hello! I cannot believe that it is going to freeze there tonight! I would love to grow sweet potatoes when we move down to the farm. I know nothing at all about growing any type of potato! I have lots and lots of learning ahead of me! Well…my husband walked by my desk when I was first reading your post. He said: “What kind of soup is that? It looks great!”… I will be stopping at the grocery tomorrow to get the ingredients that I don’t already have. We like soup in the winter, but who knows when winter will arrive? We had tomato soup and crackers tonight plus deviled eggs. Your soup looks better!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love this soup and you can style it to your taste. Originally it calls for just cauliflower with the other ingredients but I love the broccoli in it also. I am dreaming of your deviled eggs! I have never made those. As I have a steady supply of eggs I should probably give them a try.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds delicious! Will have to make it sometime soon! I can’t believe you’d never made deviled eggs… my boys used to only eat hard boiled eggs if I made them into deviled eggs… I got good at it!
Sweet potato fries are simple – I just scrub, slice, put in a bowl with some oil to coat them, add some Lawry’s, and bake until done (I do 400 or 425 so they’re a little crispy – usually 30-40 minutes). I’m not a huge recipe person, though, so I just make them :).
I love al the delicious recipes you share!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lar wants me to try them with sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on them :).Will let you know how they turn out when I try that! Good to know temps and time to bake though. That is what I was in the dark about.
LikeLike
You do so much Farming / Gardening. Life must be full of Nice things for you. Always planting, cooking, blogging. What a Beautiful Care Free Life, God has Blessed you with.
Love
Cattie
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love where I am at in life. Though I think I have pretty much always liked the different places I was at.
I have always gardened, canned, baked and cooked to save money on the food budget. When our three boys were at home we watched our sales religiously for grocery items and clothing items.It is a habit I still have. It enables my husband and me to be at home to do those things :).
We maybe do not always have what we want (I would love a cell phone!) but we always have what we need. I tell people I have never been hungry and never had to go without clothes so I guess life is good!
LikeLiked by 2 people
You are Content with Life and ThankFull to GOD. May God Bless you with Everything you and your family wish to have.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That soup sure looks good. My husband grows a lot of sweet potatoes each year. We give a lot away to friends. They are so good for us.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Have you ever made them into fries? That is what I would like to try. Also what do you do with them? LOL this is my first time growing them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They make good fries. You can make a sweet potato pie just like a pumpkin pie. It tastes milder. Bake them and eat them like a regular baked potato. Slice them up and fry them, add some sugar and they become slightly candied. Bake them chopped in pieces in the oven with sugar and spices, top them with marshmallows. Eat them raw – I like them that way. You can blend them smooth and make a custard.You can make chips (like potato chips) with them, baked in the oven.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh man!!! I am going to have to try all those ideas. I am liking the potato chip thought.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They have sweet potato chips in bags at Wal Mart, but home made are better.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your soup looks delicious! I am one of those that can eat soup year around! 🙂 ( crazy, I know LOl) Look at those sweet potatoes! Oh my goodness! I will have to search for photo’s of your garden/ farm!! It is truly a labor of love. A Freeze already? Bundle up 🙂 xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
The soup is delicious :). Our youngest son (when he lived at home) would eat soup for breakfast or as a snack…..he loved it that much.
It was cold here last night! We only got in the 50’s today for temps. I am NOT ready for the winter!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Soup looks delicious. Cooking some sweet potatoes now to make into baby food for Trey. I have a really good sweet potato casserole I can give you…when I remember. They taste good in veg and chicken soup too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am going to have to try them in vegetable soup. That sounds really good.
LikeLike
Your sweet potatoes look gorgeous. We love them, and they are good for lowering blood sugar. Of course, I don’t often make the casserole that calls for tons of marshmallows on top.
Your soup must be spectacular. I grew up in the South in a non-soup eating family. Although John and I lived on Long Island for 50 years, I didn’t try making soup until about five years ago. I’d say half the time my soups are fairly good, and I don’t think that’s a good track record. It would probably be best to wait until we a yearning for a hot bowl of soup to consider doing it again. I’m going to keep your recipe in mind.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like how this one is so easy to make…..I can put it in the crock pot and kind of forget about it.
I am a newbie at the sweet potato thing so this ought to be interesting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep, pretty sure that is not a low calorie soup, but it does sound yummy! Soup making is definitely a primeval urge, I agree. Along with a casserole. It’s funny that in the summer I hate the house smelling of cooked food, but as soon as autumn hits it is totally desirable?!
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL you are so right about the food smelling good time table. For some reason when that nip of fall gets in the air I just want to make food and bake……too bad I am not skinny and really need to eat :(.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hmmn, I remember skinny, but it was a long time ago! Anyway, you do actual proper, physical work so you need fuel. It can be vegetables, or it can be cake…
LikeLiked by 1 person
And if there is milk in the cake frosting it would be dairy right? And the egg in the cake makes it a protein? I think I read somewhere that cocoa is a bean so I am guessing vegetable group? Look how many food groups are included in cake 🙂 I feel better already!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I believe we have just proven that cake should be part of a recommended diet!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not a fan of cauliflower, but this looks delicious! It is finally cooling off here in LA too, so when I have a day at home, I’ll give it a try. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you like broccoli it works good with that also. We are way cooled off here. Only made it into the 50s today. Should be back to 70s by Sunday :).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Even all the way down here in Mazurah it stayed in the mid 50’s all day. I’m not ready. I did however go on a soup making spree. I started with chicken soup but didn’t like the end result and turned it into a pot of baby lima beans. That was great but didn’t hit the spot. Consequently, I turned it into beef stew(ish). Completely satisfied, I finally had a nice meal! As well, deviled eggs are a staple in this house, I don’t go a day with out em!
If dairy and I had not had a falling out several years back, I would be having delicious creamy cauliflower soup with some broccoli thrown in!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is so sad that you and dairy had a falling out! I would be sunk.
I am definitely going to have to try deviled eggs.
Mentally I am not ready for the cold weather but I am not sure what I can do about it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
No dairy has taken a bit of getting used to…I still crave ice cream!
I get creative with my deviled eggs, definitely not traditional…I love eggs and have no fears of experimentation! Lately, I’ve settled on the yolks mixed with crunched up chili fritos, green onions, stone ground mustard, and a bit of pickle juice for moisture…
And yes, the weather is out of our hands. I’m not a fan of this!
LikeLiked by 1 person
We’ve had 3 freezes already… Cold today. 46 this morning when I took Little Bit to horse riding lessons. Brrr.
Ethel sounds pretty amazing. I also love that you use frozen vegetables as well. My husband will really love this recipe. He is a huge Velveeta fan. I guess he could eat a few vegetables if Velveeta is involved.
I guess I didn’t realize you were in the Midwest, too. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
This was our third frost but definitely the killing one.
Yep we are smack in the Iowa Midwest :).
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re in IOWA?????? My favorite state EVER. I was born there and my folks and their families were raised there. I’m one state directly south of you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Woo Hoo. My husband and I have family one state south. We love going down there for visits.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right now we are in SW MO. The city we’re going to move by is St Louis! Yikes! Picked a big one!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is a big place! I hope you can find a country area. I know you like your backroads :).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes ma’am. Found a few towns about an hour out that look pretty decent. It was nice to drive around and look. Now when we look at houses online, we have a good idea where the roads are. You’ll be right along with me for this adventure! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
where is Iowa did you grow up?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Was in LaPorte City Iowa for a couple years when I was little. Then we moved to NW MO right under the Iowa line.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I bet we did go right past you. I love MO state parks…..other than chiggers attacking my husband LOL. (he would not laugh)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Chiggers are mean!! 🙂 Don’t blame him!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just re read your About page on your blog. I did not realize you are a fellow Iowan :). How cool is that? We are NW
LikeLike
By Spirit Lake? Sioux City?
LikeLike
we are about 90 miles from the lakes and about the same from Sioux City. We are actually closer to the Minnesota border and South Dakota border.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My 97 year old great aunt lives at Spirit Lake. All Dad’s family was around Glenwood. Mom’s was in Denison/ Schleswig. I was born in Hamburg, which is a tiny town in SW Iowa close to MO border. I’ve got all kinds of family in Iowa. In fact, my brother and his wife are buying grandma’s farm near Glenwood and moving up there from Kansas City.
Small world. For some reason I thought you were in Texas.
LikeLike
LOL I have been to Texas…..once for a wedding.
We get to Lake Okoboji a few times a year as my sister has a lake house there.
When we go to MO we go to Lebanon to see family.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my gosh. Are you kidding me? If you can across I44, you probably drove right by my town.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Okoboji is beautiful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is so great. I knew I liked you. Now it makes perfect sense! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re way up there. 🙂 We are at opposite ends! Ha! I bet you get some winters up there!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will need to come back to this and write it down!! That soup sounds scrumptious! The Army moved us even further south than we were, and I am missing the fall weather that my parents (up north) are telling me they are experiencing. Perhaps I will get a chance to try this with “cooler” weather – in December? 🙂
LikeLike
LOL I am not sure how cool it gets further south. I will have to ask my nephew what North Carolina winters are like. He is stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC.
I know if I could I would share the cool weather in the winter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ft. Bragg would get a little cool – especially when we acclimatized to the weather. Our first year, though, we were the crazy couple running around with simple long sleeves! 😂 Being slightly further south now, I realized it is cool now that the humidity has broken – but, cool for me is apparently the mid-70’s, according to my car’s temperature gauge!
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL I thought it was cool here yesterday when it was in the 50’s. I am pretty sure I will change that perspective in January when it is below zero.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have been behind on reading-glad I did not miss this post! this recipe is one I will try first chance I get. I especially missed you, when the power was out!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was behind as well and I cannot blame the power. Just got too busy. I am so glad you all turned out okay out there. You were on my mind through that weather.
LikeLiked by 1 person
that means so very much to me! thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am a homemade soup lover & yours looks delicious ❤️🐾
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was very tasty!!! My husband does not care for it so I froze it in individual containers for later :).
LikeLike
Later can be even better🐾🐾🐾
LikeLiked by 1 person
That soup looks delicious ! I’m going to try it sometime on a cold fall day !🍁😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
When you do let me know how you like it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ok
LikeLike