Because Hogaboom has a great rack...

and because she recently gave me some killer advice, and because I made a promise...here's a kickass recipe for a yummy Fall soup. FYI: I'm kind of a terrible cook (easily distracted) and I fucked up the instructions in several places (because I'm like that) and forgot the sour cream and doubled it so I could make my family eat it for several meals (cuz I'm a lazy cook). It STILL turned out to be delicious. Here it is, Kelly. Thanks for the help! ~VP

Ingredients: 1 T. unsalted butter; 2 T. olive oil; 2 medium onions, finely diced; 2 garlic cloves, minced (I used 6); 1 t. sweet paprika; 4 cups vegetable stock; 2 large potatoes, peeled and finely diced (about 2 1/2 cups); 1 celery rib, very thinly sliced; 1 bay leaf (I used 2); 1/2 t. salt; 1 t. sugar; freshly ground black pepper to taste; 4 cups corn kernels (I used frozen); 5 scallions, thinly sliced; 1 cup milk (I forgot this, if you can believe it, and the soup was still yummy); 1/4 t. thyme (I used 1 t.); few dashes cayenne pepper; 1/4 c. sour cream.

Cooking instructions:

In a large stockpot, combine the butter, olive oil, onions and garlic and saute over medium heat until the onions are tender but not brown, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle on the paprika, toss, and cook 1 minute.

Add the stock, potatoes, celery, bay leaf, salt, sugar, and pepper. Cook, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the corn and scallions, and cook 2 minutes more. Remove the bay leaf (Note: This is important! Otherwise, you do what I did and puree it. Then, your family has to pick bay leaf out of their teeth. But, the soup was still delicious!)

Scoop out 2 cups of the chowder and set it aside. Puree the remainder and return it to the pot. Stir in the reserve chowder, the milk, thyme, and cayenne pepper. Cook five minutes more. Serve in bowls with a spoonful of sour cream on top.

This is from a cookbook I've been playing around with lately titled "Quick Vegetarian Pleasures" by Jeanne Lemlin. Her promise is that all of the recipes can be whipped out in half an hour or less--not including cooking time. Okay, this took me, like, 2 hours (not including cooking time) but I suspect this had more to do with a) my chasing a toddler around and b) my maybe not being the most astute chef on the planet (see above for examples of my gross culinary negligence). But it was a yummy soup and DH was so surprised when he arrived home and found homemade soup on the stove. Really, you would think I had just handed him a golden unicorn or something. Anyhoo. Hope y'all Enjoy! And thank you, Kelly, for the solid advice!

4, but I double it for leftovers.

30

See below.