Yummy

Oh my goodness - work needs to calm down. I can't wait to go on leave and catch my breath! But, here are some of my favorites for this week that I wanted to share. Samoas are my favorite Girl Scout cookies, so imagine my delight when I found they are made into an ice cream! Oh my goodness, it is fantastic! Fortunately, our freezer is small (and right now filled with other Girl Scout cookies and frozen soup) otherwise I would have filled it up with this! I'm on a mission to get our freezer really organized before Baby Icing arrives, and mostly stocked with healthy dinners/lunches, but I think there might be room for some emergency cartons of this stuff!

I also wanted to share a delicious recipe from Real Simple that I finally tested out yesterday! I'm a big fan of the magazine - I love their aesthetic, the cleaning tips, and especially their recipes. So, yesterday afternoon, when I realized that I had two big bags of frozen corn in the freezer, I thought what could be better than corn chowder?

Corn Chowder (From Real Simple, February 2008)

8 oz bacon (chopped into small pieces)

1 large sweet onion, minced (I added in a minced carrot and a couple ribs of celery for added flavor)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (I added more, because I wanted more heat)

2 10 oz packages frozen corn (I used 2 16 oz packages because I had them and I like thicker soups)

3 cups low sodium chicken stock (I mixed it up and added a half cup of white wine in there)

1 cup half and half

4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced (I added chopped parsley because I didn't have these)

1. Cook the bacon in large saucepan over medium heat until crisp. (They take the bacon out and use it as a garnish at the end, but I left it in the soup for more flavor). Whatever you do, when the bacon is crisp, add the onion and stir occasionally until soft (5-7 minutes).
2. Add garlic, paprika and red pepper, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring. Stir in the corn, broth and half and half and bring soup to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Puree half the soup in blender until smooth. Add back to the pot and make sure all soup proper temperature. Garnish with parsley or scallions.
4. YUMMY!