Soup's on!

It was nice having my Wednesday off with Grammy's company in addition to my little guy.  Reese, the teething queen, was at daycare since I had a meeting this morning & a bunch of running around to do.  I decided to make the Barefoot Contessa's cheddar corn chowder & it was absolutely delicious!  I love the Barefoot Contessa, she's so calming to watch.

I cut the recipe in half (except for the bacon garnish!) since the original served 10-12 & it was just enough for us to have leftovers for tomorrow with 4.5 of us eating.  

Cheddar corn chowder:

8oz of bacon, chopped

2 onions, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon tumeric

6 cups chicken stock

1 pound potatoes, diced

1.5 pounds frozen corn kernels

1.5 cups half & half

1/4 pound sharp white cheddar cheese + more for garnish, grated

In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until crisp.  Remove bacon & set aside.  Reduce heat to medium, add the onions & butter to the stockpot with residual bacon grease.  Cook onions for ten minutes until translucent.

Stir in flour, salt, pepper & tumeric & cook for 3 minutes.  Add the chicken stock & the potatoes, bring to a boil & simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.  Add the corn to the soup, then the half & half & cheddar.  Cook for five more minutes until the cheese is melted.  Serve garnished with grated cheese & chopped bacon.

Eat, enjoy & repeat again!  The kids loved it!

Mike & Grammy were pretty excited to eat too..

Such a great recipe; click here for the original.

My happy little girl finally returned today!!  It was so, so awesome to see here laughing & walking around the house like her usual funny, spunky self!  I missed this girl; hopefully the sad, cranky baby has left the building.

After my little gal went to bed, we headed to the backyard to plant the Meyer lemon tree Grammy bought since she loves homemade lemonade so much!  Our old house had a teeny tiny backyard that wasn't fenced so I positively love our new yard.

We've been busy planting & getting things spruced up now that spring has arrived.  Although in Florida, does that even make a difference?  It's so fun hanging out back, planting, watering & making the house our own.

Grammy's dog Lucy made the trek from Chicago too; plenty of action going on in our house!