Cream of Corn

1 onion (2 c. chopped)
3 stalks of celery
3-4 ears of corn (about 2 c.)
¼ c. butter
¼ c. olive oil
¾ t. salt
½ t. beef bullion
3 T. flour
1 ½ c. cream
2 c. milk
Pepper

In a large pan sauté onions, celery, butter, corn (after being cut off the cob) and olive oil, until vegetables soften, 10-12 minutes. Add bullion, salt and flour, mix well and continue to stir over heat for about 3 more minutes. Slowly add cream, stir until all ingredients are fully combined. The soup should be very thick, keep stirring over medium heat, and add milk in ½ cup increments. Let the soup come to a boil, then take off heat. After a few minutes, use hand mixer or a food processor to puree the soup. If using a food processor (or blender) you may have to process in batches. After all lumps are gone, return to medium/high heat and let simmer for a few minutes, serve hot. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with corn.

*to keep vegetarian, you can substitute garlic salt for the bullion

Corn Chowder

3 large potatoes (peeled and chopped)
1 onion (2 c. chopped)
3 stalks of celery
3-4 ears of corn (about 2 c.)
¼ c. butter
¼ c. olive oil
¾ t. salt
½ t. garlic salt
3 T. flour
1 ½ c. cream
2 c. milk
¾ c. parsley (chopped)
pepper

In a medium pan boil potatoes in water and add about ½ t. salt, this will take about 20 minutes. Stir every few minutes. In the mean time, start on the base of the soup.
In a large pan sauté onions, celery, corn (after being cut off the cob), butter, and olive oil, until vegetables soften, 10-12 minutes. Add garlic salt, salt and flour, mix well and continue to stir over heat for about 3 more minutes. Slowly add cream, stir until all ingredients are fully combined. The soup should be very thick, keep stirring over medium heat, and add milk in ½ cup increments. Add the parsley and cook until soup comes to a boil. Add potatoes (after draining). Let simmer for a few minutes, serve hot. Salt and pepper to taste.

*For more of a hearty chowder, you can add carrots, and also bacon, at the same time as the onions, celery, and corn.

Oh so amazing Clam Chowder!

This picture was not taken by me, a google search deserves the credit, but mine looks just about the same!

Martin actually managed to eat it all before I had the chance to get a picture, geez :/

Clam Chowder

3 medium potatoes
½ lb. bacon
1 small white onion
2 carrots
3 stalks of celery
¼ c. olive oil
½ c. butter
1 bunch of parsley (about ¾ c. chopped)
6 T. flour
2 cans of chopped clams (6 oz. cans)
16 oz. cream
1 c. milk
1 t. salt
½ t. cayenne pepper
½ t. pepper
1-2 t. hot sauce (tabasco)

Peel and chop potatoes, about ¼ inch cubes, and boil for about 20 minutes, or until soft.
The bacon, onion, carrots, and celery should all be chopped very small. In a large pot, start by cooking the bacon, just for a few minutes by itself, and add onion, carrots, and celery. Drizzle about ¼ c. olive oil, and add ½ c. of butter to the pan. Sautee this mixture for about 15 minutes, until vegetables are soft and bacon is cooked. Add the chopped parsley with just a few more minutes left.
Add the flour to the pan and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. The mixture is going to come together to form a sticky consistency. Continuing stirring on heat for a few more minutes, being careful not to burn.
Add the cans of clams, one at a time, including the juice. Stir thoroughly over low heat as you add them. Add cream, milk, spices, and hot sauce (however much you prefer). Continue stirring on medium heat until soup comes to a boil. Add the drained potatoes, and keep on medium heat for another few minutes. Serve immediately!

*I wanted to make a clam chowder similar to Outback's (which is Martin's and My favorite). It is very similar, but I think this recipe is better!

Cream of Celery Soup

I'm not quite sure where I got the idea to do a cream of celery soup, but I did it. I think I've tasted Campbell's before, but it was years ago, maybe my Grandma Beck used to put it in casseroles and what not. It turned out amazing though! And I really have a love for creamy soups, and creamy anything for that matter, so just the idea of cream of celery sounded so tasty to me. You could keep the soup chunky if you'd like. My Dad said after I had already pureed the soup, that he would prefer chunks of celery, so maybe I could even take out some of the cooked celery and add it after the puree-ing, or leave it chunky all together. Either way, I think you should try it. This is a very easy recipe, and when it comes to measurements, nothing needs to be exact. You can make the soup as thick or thin as you'd like; salty, unsalted, whatever :)

Cream of Celery
¼ c. butter
¼ c. olive oil
1 head of celery (3-4 c. chopped)
1 onion (2 c. chopped)
1 large carrot (1 c. chopped)
½ t. garlic salt
1 t. salt
4 T. flour
1 c. chicken broth
(or water)
2 c. half and half or cream
In a large pan sauté butter, olive oil, chopped celery, onions, and carrots, until onions become translucent, about 8 minutes. Add garlic salt, salt and flour, mix well and continue to stir over heat for about 3more minutes. Slowly add chicken broth, or water if you don’t have broth on hand. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, you want all the vegetables to be soft. Keep the temperature on medium, making sure the bottom doesn’t burn. Whisk in 2 cups of cream or half and half (for a lighter soup), and mix thoroughly, cook another 5 minutes on low heat. With a hand mixer, or in smaller batches in a food processor, mix until you reach a smooth puree.
Serve right away hot, or can keep in the refrigerator for up to a 1 week. You can also freeze in zip lock bags. Garnish with pesto oil and parmesan toast (toast slices of a baguette, butter each slice, top with parmesan cheese and garlic salt, toast another minute under the broiler.)

Pesto Oil
½ c. basil leaves
½ c. pine nuts
½ c. olive oil
Salt and pepper
In a food processor or blender mix basil and pine nuts, slowly add the olive oil. Blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste when finished.

Tomato bisque...soooo delicious

Tomato Bisque

½ c. butter
1 large onion
2 large carrots
3 stalks of celery
1 t. garlic salt
2 t. salt
6 T. flour
8 cups of stewed tomatoes
(2 28 ounce cans)
2 c. chicken broth
(or water)
1 bunch of thyme
1 bunch of basil
2 c. cream
In a large pan sauté butter, chopped onions, carrots, and celery until onions become translucent, about 8 minutes. Add garlic salt, salt and flour, mix well and continue to stir over heat for about 3more minutes. Slowly add chicken broth, or water if you don’t have broth on hand. Add tomatoes, basil leaves, and the whole bunch of thyme, stir the bottom of the pan well and cook for about 30 more minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Keep the temperature on medium, make sure the bottom doesn’t burn. Whisk in 2 cups of cream, and mix thoroughly, cook another 5 minutes on low heat. Remove any stems from the thyme. With a hand mixer, or in smaller batches in a food processor, mix until ingredients are fully blended.
Serve right away hot, or can keep in the refrigerator for up to a 1 week. You can also freeze in zip lock bags. Garnish with basil and parmesan toast (toast slices of a baguette, butter each slice, top with Parmesan cheese and garlic salt, toast another minute under the broiler.)

Because we have an abundance of tomatoes in our garden I decided to use fresh tomatoes instead of canned. It is a surprisingly easy task, so if you have tomatoes of your own, try stewing up a pot! With a bowl full of washed tomatoes, without the stem, I scored the bottom of each with a knife and placed them in a pot of boiling water. After just a few minutes you'll notice the skins starting to peal away from the meat of the tomato, which is exactly what you want! After about 5 minutes you should be able to take them out, with a slotted spoon and place them on a plate or cookie sheet. After they have cooled enough for you to touch them, you can start to peel off the skins, and in some cases you will need to cut off the top were there once was a stem. Place the skinned tomatoes in a bowl and there you have your stewed tomatoes!

butternut squash soup

In my family's garden we grow an overwhelming number of squash. I don't know why, but last year we went a little crazy and planted just about every variety we knew of and lots of it. And because they are known to last over the winter months we always had some on hand. The butternut squash became one of our favorites, for the taste, texture and versatility. Todd and I then perfected a butternut squash soup recipe. I've made it a few ways; this happens to be the healthiest, and most liked.



1 butternut squash (medium sized, just over 2 lbs.)
1 onion, chopped
5 T. butter
1 T. freshly grated ginger
1 bunch of fresh thyme
3 c. chicken broth
Sour cream, and chives for garnish
Salt and pepper

Cook butternut squash; bake, boil, microwave, steam, any way you like. If you’ve never cooked a squash before, I would suggest splitting it down the middle, removing the seeds, and baking it on a greased cookie sheet, or baking pan, face side down. (I sometimes will put foil down on the pan first, then use olive oil or vegetable oil on the foil, just to make clean up easier). Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, or until tender. Set aside to cool.
In a medium sauce pan, melt butter and cook the onion and ginger until golden brown, just a few minutes. Thyme generally doesn’t need to be chopped, you can run your fingers down the sprig and gather the leaves; add to pan, and cook for another minute. Take off heat.
Once cool, scoop squash out (it should separate easy from the skins) and add to the pan with the onion and put back on low heat until the squash heats back up and is mixed with the onion and ginger. Add the chicken broth to pan and once it heats up to a warm boil, simmer for about 10 minutes. You can add water until the mixture reaches the desired texture. Salt and pepper to taste. Take off heat, and with a hand held blender you should be able to get the mixture as smooth as cream. If you don’t have a hand held blender, you can use a counter top blender or a food processor.
Keep the soup on a low heat until ready to serve. I like to serve each bowl with a dollop of sour cream and a few chopped chives, and if you like the ginger flavor, you could also sprinkle some ginger on top.

*This is the healthy version of the recipe. You can use cream instead of chicken broth, for a smoother and more filling recipe, or half cream, half broth.
If you don’t like ginger feel free to take it out of the recipe, as well as the thyme. You should use at least one, but you can substitute it for any flavor, such as garlic (fresh or garlic salt).