It was a Sunday afternoon and we anticipated a long day. The kids were dressed in their finest Halloween garb and were anticipating a ghoulish adventure at Huckleberry Railroad in Flint. I packed a few treats (such as Enjoy Life chocolate bars, Glutino pretzels and gummies) I knew were safe, some Celiac Specialties doughnuts and we were off.

The sun was shining and the kids were in high spirits as we joined other little monsters gathered at the Genessee County park for the event. They started off sluggishly holding our hands and dragging their feet but after merely moments, they perked right up.

A lineup of 20 trick-or-treat stations did to them what 2-3 cups of coffee do to me the morning after working the afternoon shift at the paper. Add a 40-minute train ride and my little ones were pretty scary themselves. All the Starburst candies, Skittles and Smarties (all passed out at the event!) had my picky eater living up to the name of his alter ego of the day, "Buzz" Lightyear.

A dose of "real" food was needed so that he would come down from outer space in time for bed. Good thing we planned ahead.

Grandma and grandpa came armed with a pot of potatoes, carrots, green beans and tomatoes around 11 a.m. We dumped it in a large slow cooker, added some broth and plugged our brew in. When we got home around 5:30with a car full of ghoulish and hungry trick-or-treaters, it was bubbly and delicious and just what we all needed for goblin after an afternoon of outdoor fun.

I grabbed some slices of bread from the Breadsmith* to serve with the feast. It was a hearty meal we all were looking forward to after our jaunt through the many candy stops, hay maze and train trip of the day. And a few of us even ate a few more bites of candy afterward ;)

Happy Halloween!

Witches' Stew
1-2 pounds lean beef (grandma used sirloin), cubed
1 can diced tomatoes
4-5 whole carrots, cut into large chunks at an angle
1 pound small russet or white skin potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 pound green beans
2 stalks celery
Olive oil
1 box beef stock (such as Kitchen Basics)
Dried spices to taste (we used Penzeys Beef Roast Seasonings), such as paprika, garlic, savory, basil, thyme, salt
2 teaspoons pepper
2 bay leaves

Brown beef in about 1 teaspoon olive oil for about 5 minutes. Transfer into large stock pot or slow cooker. Add can of tomatoes to pan and scrape bottom to get all the beef drippings up. Pour tomatoes and scrapings into pot. Add remaining ingredients and season. If cooking in large stock pot: Bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook at least 1 hour or until beef and vegetables are tender. If cooking in slow cooker: Turn to medium setting and cook 4-6 hours. Serve with bread or rolls of your choice.

* We recently received a loaf of gluten-free sandwich bread from the Breadsmith in Bloomfield Hills. The owner told us the bakery takes every precaution to assure there is no cross contamination. The bread is baked in the morning before any other bread is prepared and is tested for gluten contamination, packaged and stored separately. We have had no problems with the bread and I anticipate receiving more information about the Breadsmith's gluten-free breadmaking practices. It was soft and tasted like homemade bread I would have made in my own oven. I will post updates when they come to me!