Ch-ch-ch-chowder!

Ok guys, here's my first recipe post. My mom suggested we make corn chowder for dinner tonight, and I couldn't find a recipe I really liked, so I made a Franken-recipe. I combined a few, and added some ingredients of my own. Here we go:

Slow Cooker Corn Chowder

Serves 4 hungry people

2 medium sized sweet potatoes
1 whole onion
2 cloves garlic
3 stalks celery
4 fresh corn cobs (or 2 1/2 C frozen corn)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried thyme
2 1/2 - 3 C milk
Pepper
1/2 C shredded cheddar (optional)

Chop up the onion and garlic cloves and sauté them until softish. About 6 minutes. Peel and dice sweet potatoes into bite-sized cubes. Chop up the celery stalks into bite-sized pieces too. Shuck the corn and make sure all the silk is washed off. Slice all the corn off the cob and put it into the slow cooker.

Add all the rest of the veggies, including the softish onions and garlic. Add seasonings, with enough pepper to taste. Remember, in a slow cooker, flavors get more intense with time, so go easy on the pepper. Add enough water so that it's about an inch below the veggies in the crock pot, about 4 C. Cover and cook on high for about 3 hours, or until all the veggies are nice and soft.

Add the milk (enough to make it nice and creamy - the amount is up to you), bring back up to temperature and serve with some cheese grated on top, if you want. It is SO good. Trust me. To make it totally vegan, you can use unflavored rice or soy milk and omit the cheese. And if you're feeling carnivorous, add some rotisserie chicken or snausages.

It was so good that I didn't get to take a photo of it until it was all gone. See?

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

We went up to one of my favorite places and had dinner the other night - Green Ridge. The sunset was gorgeous, and Little J had a TON of fun walking down the switchbacks, watching birds, throwing rocks, etc. My mom, who is a fantastic photographer, took some great shots of him and our family. Man, this kid has one well-documented childhood.

See, he does have hair!

I love how he's always in awe of everything.

You get a preview of our Christmas card! Yay!