The Great Leaf Debate (with a side of NO SUGAR added sweet potato soup)

Polar vortex how you taunt me! Talk about cold. The most beautiful fall in ages destroyed in an instant.  The orange, yellow and red leaves shivered off the trees. No wind! They just fell to their doom.

The weather here has led to the question of the moment,

Are you a leaf raker....

Or...a leaf blower

 


OR...a leaf jumper?

I confess to being all three!

Public Service Announcement #1: No matter how you go about attacking leaves, make sure you warm up first. Do stretches so your back won't go out (yep, one of the autumn's most common injuries). Make sure you wear ear plugs if you use a blower. And make sure there is nothing dangerous or odorous in that leaf pile. You're welcome.

Falling leaves and sweet potatoes have always gone together in my book.  And since I'm in the South, sweet potato pie is as much a tradition this time of year as pumpkin pie. Sweet potatoes are a great source of fiber and make a luscious end to a meal. Sigh AGAIN. Since I can't find a decent gluten free pie crust, I've been missing sweet potato pie.

That's when I thought back to summer's dessert soups. Cold peach, watermelon, strawberry soups always appeared in my Southern Living magazines and eventually to my table. Where are the winter dessert soups? Pumpkin tends to be more savory. I haven't seen a lot of apple soups either. But sweet potato soup after a meal of ham casserole and salad sounded divine to me.

I found plenty of savory sweet potato soups similar to Jan's Butternut Squash Soup . Made with chicken broth and onions, these soups are perfect for an entree. Dessert means sweet, at least in our house. A friend told me about a soup made with apple cider but I wanted something creamy. Plus, our house is having to watch our sugar consumption.

Public Service Announcement, #2: Do you know how much sugar is added to our processed foods? Do you know sugar acts like cocaine on the brain? But if you cut out sugar, you will get used to less.  For me, this was sweet enough for a dessert. For others, maybe not so much. Back to our regularly scheduled post.  

After a few tries, I think I nailed it. These are ingredients for my Dessert Sweet Potato Soup:

And here's the recipe that is a perfect reward after all that raking.

Sweet Potato Dessert Soup:

Soup ingredients:

1 can sweet potato puree or one very large or two regular sweet potatoes, cooked and pureed with a processor or blender

1 cup half and half

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, more to taste if needed

Dash nutmeg

Optional: 1/4 cup brown sugar if your family insists on really sweet things but the toppings should also make the soup taste sweeter for sugar addicts.

Add on Toppings:

Diced apples, raisins soaked in orange juice, chopped pecans, mini marshmallows, marshmallow fluff, coconut

Assembly:

Combine all the ingredients in a large sauce pan and whisk over medium heat until heated through.

Stir constantly at low  to medium heat so you don't burn your soup!

Ladle into bowls and sprinkle on toppings.

Note: This is a thick rich soup so serve in small bowls (portion control!) and treated like a sundae with your toppings. 

Bonus alternative:  Add a cup of cooked rice and a half cup raisins to the soup, along with two beaten eggs and bake at 350 until set for sweet potato rice pudding!

Now to the questions of the day, do you use a rake, a leaf blower or have you already moved on to a snow blower? Have you ever had a dessert soup and do you like soup for dessert?