Corn Chowder

Dan had some friends coming over to work on a project this afternoon. When I asked what he and his friends would like for lunch, Dan suggested corn chowder.

Oddly, I've never made a corn chowder before. I've made soups with corn, I've made corn bisque, but not corn chowder. I did a little research to figure out what I wanted this chowder to include without consuming the majority of my morning in prep work.

It is a cold, drizzly day in North Carolina; perfect corn chowder weather.

This makes a large batch - I used my 7.5qt dutch oven, and had a little room at the top.

I over-spiced this (we all had runny noses by the end...), so I've adjusted the recipe below. If you find the heat too weak for your taste, add more pepper or Dinosaur by the half teaspoon until you are satisfied.


You will need:

about 8 strips of smoked bacon, diced
1 large vidalia onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
1 large red pepper, diced
6 large Yukon Gold or white potatoes, peeled and cubed (these are less starchy than Idaho or baking potatoes)
1 large or 2 smaller sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
6 cups chicken broth (or veggie broth if you are opting for a vegetarian soup)
2 cups heavy cream
32 oz (big bag) of frozen corn
(I added an additional cup of fire-roasted corn to cut the heat, and it is terrific. I've only seen fire-roasted corn at Trader Joe's.)
2 tsp(ish) dried thyme
1 TBS soy sauce
1/2 TBS cayenne pepper and 1 tsp crushed red pepper OR 1 TBS Dinosaur Foreplay (which is preferred, and a staple in my kitchen)

In dutch oven (or thick pot) saute diced bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pot and set aside.
In bacon drippings (drain some off if you have more than a few TBS), saute onion, carrots, celery, and red pepper until onions are caramelized and veggies are softened (about 8 minutes).
Add broth, soy sauce, thyme, and Foreplay (or peppers) and potatoes to the pot and simmer, covered, for 10+ minutes, until potatoes are softened. (I walked away from this for about 20 minutes, and all turned out well.)
Add corn, cream, and bacon to the pot.
When the corn is cooked, it is ready! I let mine cook for about 30 minutes, just because we weren't ready for it right away.

I served these with some Trader Joe's Chili & Cheese Puffs (similar to Ina Garten's cheese puffs with the addition of diced mild chilies and the convenience of being pre-made.)

Holiday Bark

My mother makes a holiday bark that I'm fairly certain had something to do with why Dan married me. It has all the best things: salt, chocolate, sugar, butter, carbs.

I don't love all bark. I don't love white chocolate bark, and I don't appreciate peppermint bark like most people do (unless it has a dark chocolate base). But I love this bark.

I had a staff celebration coming up and a great deal of leftover Halloween candy. I combined my mother's basic bark with the idea of topping it all with a variety of delicious candy leftovers.

About half way through execution I started to think that perhaps I had overdone the candy. If you run into this problem, plow through. It will all work out in the end. Feel free to substitute your favorite candies for anything else here. You may not use all the candy bits... the best thing to do in that case is to put them over ice cream. You wouldn't want them to go to waste.

One batch makes one cookie sheet... I made two to share with 30-40 people, but should have made more. If it were a Get Fat night, I'm sure 5 of us girls could have done justice to one batch.

I'm sorry there is no picture... I was so excited to eat and share this that I completely forgot to take one.

You will need:

1 stick of butter
1 cup of brown sugar (packed)
about 25 Saltine crackers (1 sleeve should do the trick)
1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 full-sized Butterfinger bar (or a bunch of small ones), chopped into chunks
2-3 Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, chopped into chunks
1/2 cup(ish) candy corn
1/2 cup(ish) M&Ms
1/4 cup roasted (unsalted) peanuts


Preheat oven to 350.
Line a jelly roll sheet (cookie sheet with sides) with aluminum foil & spray with nonstick spray.

Cover the bottom of the cookie sheet with Saltine crackers so that there is no space between them.
Melt 1 stick of butter and 1 cup of brown sugar together, and bring to a boil.
Pour boiling sugar over crackers.
Bake in oven for 5 minutes - toffee will spread in the oven, so don't worry if the sugar isn't covering the crackers.
Let rest for 1 minute outside of oven.

Spread the chocolate chips over toffee. When they get good and melty, spread them with a spatula or knife.

While the chocolate is still gooey, top with the candy. You may need to gently press some of the candy corn down.


Refrigerate for about 1 hour, or until the chocolate has set.

Break into small, uneven pieces.