Vegetarian Corn Chowder

It was a cold and rainy election day. Since I voted last week I spent time cooking up a pot of a smokey vegetarian corn chowder. By adding smoked paprika and chipotle powder it adds a nice smokey flavor to replace the popular bacon.

Corn Chowder

1 T EVOO
1 T butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 can creamed corn
2 cans corn, drained*
1 can or box of Cream of Mushroom soup concentrate (I used Pacific Natural Foods organic)
5 Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and chopped**
1 box vegetable broth
1/2 cup half and half
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp ground rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 pinch of celery seed
1 pinch of cayenne or to taste

Add EVOO and butter to a soup pot over medium heat, add onions, salt  and carrots and cook until onions are clear. Add corn, soup and broth and stir well to combine. Bring to boil. Add potatoes and spices and cook for 30 minutes. You can cook it longer but 30 minutes will get the potatoes cooked.

Remove the bay leaves.

Use a cup or ladle to move about half of the soup to a blender. Leave vent on blender top open to avoid steam build up and blend to chowderize. Pour the blended back into the pot of unblended soup. I used an immersion blender and ran it through the pot to blend about half of it. Add half and half and let heat through for another 5-10 minutes.

Serve with oyster crackers and a splash of your favorite hot sauce. I added Cholula because it adds even more smokey flavor. 

*This is a great way to use any frozen corn you have in the freezer. 

** I like to peel my potatoes for soups. I don't like the bite of the peel and there always seems to be bits of peel floating around. If you like peel or if you're in a big hurry, don't peel them. It's just my preference. You can also use frozen potatoes if you're in a pinch.

JAG, the Bar Exam, the Waiting Game and Mama Drama...

We found out a week ago Friday that hubs passed the Bar. That information was forwarded on to his AF contact along with his official results. Now, we wait.

I have no idea how long it takes them to decide on a base assignment.

I'm excited and anxious and frustrated. I'm ready to get this show on the road. Hubs leaves in two months. There's an awful lot of honey-do lists to knock out in two months. :) I can handle it alone but it's nice to have an extra set of hands when you're cleaning out storage rooms, de-junking and trying to sort what stays or goes to charity.

Oh, and it's not just one move...it's actually more like three moves.

Indulge me one long paragraph of back story and venting: One of the bases I'd like to avoid like the plague is the one closest (as in the same town) as my mother and many old friends. I went to high school there and have many close ties to the town. I just never want to live there again. My mom is in deteriorating health and really shouldn't live alone anymore. Before you call me a rotten daughter you must understand that my brother and I have planned for months to move my mother to New Jersey to live with him. My sister-in-law is an excellent care giver and doesn't get sucked into my mother's drama and manipulations as her children are prone to do. If there was even an inkling that I'd be moving near her she wouldn't move and would plant her co-dependent self in my guest bedroom and accuse me of not loving her when I had to leave for work or couldn't give her my undivided attention.

So back to moving. I have logistical issues to sort through with parental road blocks tossed in to make it interesting.

Before we move to parts unknown with our PCS I have to move some things from a storage building near our old house (3 1/2 hours away). I'm hoping I can give some of the furniture to a friend moving to the area and donate the rest. There are only two dressers and a bed frame that I want to bring home.

I also have some things at my mother's house (4 1/2 hours away) that I need to move back to our condo. She has two dressers that go in my guest bedroom and she won't have room for them in New Jersey. There are also some photos, oil paintings and miscellaneous items that will require a small truck to bring back.

The ideal situation would be getting one truck, loading it with anything to be donated from storage and dropping it off. After that, I would load the few things I'm bringing home, swing by my mother's and load the items from her house and then come home. It would make sense to only rent one truck and knock it all out.

My move will look nothing like this fake pretty family and neatly labeled boxes.

There's still the trick of moving my mother to New Jersey.

Oh, then there's Thanksgiving and Christmas and visiting family.

And then I have to move to who knows where. At least the heavy lifting is handled by Uncle Sam. I just have to get organized.

And I need to be supportive of my husband as he is finally starting a job that he has wanted badly for a long time.

 I think I'm going to find a beer and cry in it. Just because de-junking and mama drama give me a headache.

Yep, that's what I'll do.

I've graduated from to do lists to moving spreadsheets with timelines 

But getting our base assignment will make me happy. It will be nice to have an idea of the end-game. Maybe some things will fall into place. It will definitely be easier to plan. Somethings may just not be in my power to do before we leave and will get scratched off the list. I'm going to have to say no to some things this holiday season. There may be less time visiting friends as we focus on family time. Then again, they may move us an hour south and all this fretting is a total waste of time.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a beer and twelve to-do lists waiting for me.