Isn’t Samhain just the best time of year? The magick is palpable now, and everyone is at their witchy best. It’s also my busy time of year with various tarot and Pagan events and activities, so I usually try to find something easy to make, but something that evokes the feelings of the season. What’s better for that than a bubbling cauldron of chowder?

This uses the frozen corn leftover from Lammas’s first harvest, and bacon from the Samhain livestock cull. We’re going to eat this after doing our last harvesting for the year in the cool, wet weather. It will be warm, bubbly, and delicious!

Bacon Corn Chowder

• 1 package bacon
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 gallon unflavored, unsweetened almond milk
• 64 oz frozen corn
• 3 large chicken bullion cubes
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/8 cup corn starch
• cheddar cheese shreds for garnish

Cut bacon into small pieces and fry in a large soup pot until crispy. Remove to a bowl and set aside to garnish the soup later, leaving the grease in the pot. Chop onion into 3/4″ pieces and saute in bacon fat until onions are soft and translucent. Add in garlic and saute another minute. Add corn, bullion cubes, and then add milk until it just covers the corn. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so to keep it from burning at the bottom of the pot. Add smoked paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Mix corn starch with an equal amount of water and stir to make a slurry. Add into soup while stirring constantly. Allow soup to thicken. Garnish individual bowls with cheddar cheese and bacon bits and enjoy!

(You can make this vegan by substituting the bacon with a liberal dash of liquid smoke and using olive oil for your fat. Also, use vegan shreds instead of cheddar.)

If you try this please let me know what you think. Happy Samhain and blessed be! <3