Comforting Corn Chowder

Corn works wonderfully as a side or as a compliment in a soup or main dish, but it's hardly ever the star of a meal.  I absolutely love corn, so a corn chowder is perfect for me.  The chowder is perfectly creamy, but chunky enough to alone be a hearty dinner.  The variations are unlimited in corn chowder.  My creation of corn chowder is simple enough to make quickly & easily.  If you're a corn lover, you'll want to try this chowder out for yourself!

All you'll need for my corn chowder is 6 slices of bacon, 1/3 cup of diced onion, 2 cans of sweet corn, 1 can of cream of celery soup, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 2 1/2 cups of milk, 2 tbsp. of butter, 1/2 tbsp. salt, 1/2 tbsp. pepper, & cayenne.  In a large pot cook the bacon till crisp & set it aside till later.  Discard some of the bacon grease, but keep about 2 tbsp. to saute the onion. Once the onion is sauteed add the corn, cream of mushroom soup, cream of celery soup, milk, butter, & bacon grease.  Stir ingredients together & let it come to a heavy simmer on medium heat for approx. 15 min.  Let the chowder stew before adding the cayenne or it will be too spicy.  Add salt & pepper for flavor.  Then lastly crumble the bacon & add it to the chowder.  If your chowder is too thick for you then add more milk to smooth out the consistency.

This chowder works well as an appetizer or as meal by itself.  It'd be a great appetizer for the upcoming Thanksgiving feast.  It's rich & buttery, with a crunch of sweet corn & bacon.  There are many additions you could use to make this chowder your own.  I've made it differently each time I've made it, but I know this is a sure recipe to go by. You could use mexican corn, or potatoes, or even crab to stretch this corn chowder into something even more wonderful to you.  I love is just as it is with corn as the star in this comforting corn chowder.

Pizza Perfect Pastime

It's always a treat to have pizza night at our house, but when we do, we take a more hands on approach than just ordering out.  There are lots of possibilities out there to making pizzas.  You can build a pizza from crust up into anything you want.  One of my personal favorites is a BBQ chicken pizza.  I also enjoy a tomato-basil pizza.  The guys in my family are pepperoni fans.  An easy & fun way to satisfy everyone's taste is to make our own pizzas.  We love to do this any chance we get.  Not only are they better than delivery, but they are less expensive as well.  There are a few different ways we've done our pizzas.  I'm sure if not all, at least one will work for you!

First there is the store bought pizza crust that you can top with your choice of toppings.  These are perfect if you're short on time or just really hungry!  I use a traditional marinara sauce for my pizza sauce.  You just top the pre-made pizza crust with the sauce & start building your pizza.  Cover the entire pizza with a finely shredded mozzarella.  For a fresh tomato-basil pizza, you'll need fresh basil leaves & roma tomatoes.  Slice the tomatoes thin & chop the basil into small pieces, then add them both to the top of your pizza.  Salt & pepper the tomatoes & that quickly the pizzas are ready to bake.  Bake them according to the crust's package- usually about 10 min.  This tomato-basil pizza is out of this world good!  I love the fresh taste that come from the fresh toppings.  There's not a pizza place around that delivers this homemade pizza, so don't even think about it! :)

Our next homemade pizzas are made from english muffins.  All you'll need is english muffins, marinara sauce, cheese & whatever toppings you desire.  My mom used to make these for me as a child & now they're one of our favorite ways to make pizza.  You can make each individual pizza different.  Ham & pineapple is a delicious way to use leftover sandwich meat.  If you have a small amount of ground beef you can easily make a beef & onion.  With leftover chicken you could make my personal favorite BBQ  chicken pizza. Substitute the marinara for BBQ sauce, then add mozzarella, & chicken.

To make the pizzas cut the english muffins in half, top with your choice of sauce & bake @ 375 degrees for 5 minutes.  Then top with cheese & your toppings.  Bake for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted & the tops are golden.  These are quick & an easy way to suit everyone all at once.

Lastly, the most fun & interactive way to make homemade pizza is to use fresh dough.   Some grocery stores (Publix) have a fresh dough ready for rolling out in the bakery section, in a small refrigerator.  Others (Walmart) have it in the freezer section.  You buy the dough thaw it, & roll it out together.  It's a lot of enjoyment for everyone to get some hands on action in making a pizza.  I keep to the same instructions as to all pizzas- sauce, cheese, & toppings.  You're in control of your pizza so make it as thin or as thick as you want.  Put more cheese on it after topping it with your favorite pizza veggies.  Go crazy with it & enjoy the time spent making your very own pizza!

There's not an exact recipe to making your own pizza's once you get past the dough.  With all these available options you'll have your home turned in to a pizzeria weekly. The experience is unbeatable.  If you haven't made homemade pizzas before, definitely give it a try.  You won't want to go back to ordering out after you see how much better making your own can be!

Sticky Rice with Mango

I had been going to Thai Taste, a restaurant in Spartanburg, SC,  for years before I tried their dessert mango & sticky rice.  After trying it I never went without getting it!  It was incredible.  I hadn't eat much fresh mango before this dessert, but it's delicious.  Mango has a firm, but soft texture, & is sweet, but not sugary sweet.  It's an extremely well balanced & flavorful fruit.  It's amazingly good when combined with sweetened sticky rice.  I craved the exotic dessert so much that it forced me to learn how to make the sticky rice with mango.

It's a simple as using 1 cup of sweet rice (found at an asian food store), 1 can of coconut milk, 3/4 cup sugar-white or brown, 1/4 tablespoon salt, & 3 tablespoons of butter, 2 fresh mangoes or 2 cups of frozen mango-thawed.  Cook the rice just as you would regular rice, 1 part rice to 2 parts water.  In a separate small pan bring the coconut milk, sugar, salt, & butter to a boil, stirring constantly until the sugar has dissolved.  When the rice is done stir in the coconut mixture.  Serve warm or chilled w/ sliced mango.  I'm used to it being served warm, so that's how I eat it.  The only difficult part of making this dessert is the rice.  I'm not great at making rice yet.  If you have the same problem, you may want to use a rice cooker.  :)

I made this for my family when they came to visit this past summer.  We ended up eating it for breakfast, lunch & dinner.   You may not feel the same way about it as we do, but I urge you to try this at least once.  It's surprisingly different, but simply good!  It may even inspire you to try more exotic foods in the future.