Jack O'Lantern Soup

Hi friends.  I have big news - today we begin the first ever "theme week" on the blog.  (I know you're excited - try to contain your enthusiasm.)  I have been overwhelming my family with Halloween treats this month so I decided to dedicate an entire week on the blog to Halloween fun.

With all of the Halloween preparations that are going on at my house this past week, it was reminded of the very first Halloween that I spent with Ben.  The year was 1988 - I was a duck and he was  - a girl!

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This was one of our first dates.  We went to the Halloween dance at school.  (Ben was voted best dressed girl at the dance.)  You can imagine how surprised my dad was when my date showed up at the door - in a dress.  Luckily, he let me marry him anyway.  

​I've already blogged about some of our Fall treats like apple nachos and caramel apples.  That was just the beginning of the Halloween treats.  A couple of weeks ago, we had tomato soup and grilled cheese on the menu - my son's choice.  I decided to make it more festive by adding a pumpkin shaped cheese slice.  

​I heated up some Trader Joe's organic tomato soup and then topped it with a slice of American cheese cut into a jack o'lantern.  I cut the pumpkin shape with a cookie cutter and I used a small paring knife to carve the face.   ​After the soup sits for a couple of minutes, the cheese will start to melt into the soup.  

I also used my cookie cutter to cut the grilled cheese into pumpkin shapes - something that impressed my kids much more before they were teenagers.

I also made jack o'lantern quesadillas for the kids last week for a snack.  

Directions:
Cut a face in a flour tortilla with a paring knife. 
Put a whole tortilla on a warm skillet sprayed with Pam.
Sprinkle cheese on the tortilla.
Top with the cut tortilla.
Cook until cheese melts.
Flip and brown on other side.

One last idea for today - a jack o'lantern carved out of an orange.

Super simple and yes, I still make them for my kids.
Carve a face into the skin of an orange with a paring knife.  Add a pretzel stick stem and voila - a jack o'lantern.

​Ciao!!