Randoms on a beautiful day

It is a beautiful day again here on the prairie. The farmers have begun the harvest season, the sky is blue, and the temperatures are mild.

And because it is Wednesday, I have been jotting down some randoms, so here we go…

Random #1

Thanks to several fund raisers, we are getting well stocked on mums for the season. I haven’t figured out where to put them all yet, but I did thankfully find a miniature one at the Farmer’s Market garden center in town.

I saw this idea on Instagram last year where you use a small mum as part of an indoor arrangement and I just loved it. I put this one in the entry way and now am considering going back for another for our kitchen table. $2.99 and they are very healthy looking.

Random #2

Speaking of Instagram.

I am seeing a lot of posts with sweaters and am baffled at how you can front tuck a bulky sweater. I mean, granted the girls who are doing this are no bigger than a pencil, but still.

At my age, the beauty of a bulky sweater is to cover stuff up, not enhance the bulging mid section.

Sigh.

Random #3

I had a funny thought today.

You know how we often say we are adjusting to a new normal?

Well, what if we actually just said what is really going on and say we are adjusting to a new abnormal.

Because in reality, the idea of “normal” is rather fluid. It’s like saying everything was going along just text book perfect and then we had this change and so we are having to adjust to a new version of everything going right.

Nope.

For the most part, it’s a roll of the dice on any given day and when things come along to change the playing field, we just have roll on that new ground.

Or maybe it’s just me.

Random #4

photo and garden credit/Rachel Maxwell <3

What is the deal with summer tomatoes?

They are not even in the same category of food as grocery store tomatoes.

The inside is so red and solid and the seeds are just sort of slightly there in tiny little pockets. So unlike the goopy greenish pods of seeds in the ones we have to endure the other nine months.

I am going to miss this so much. That and the sweet corn.

Which, speaking of…

Random #5

We have had an abundance of sweet corn every week thanks to a market basket we subscribed to. (and yes, I know that is not sweet corn. It was just a fun picture and this is, after all, Random’s Day)

Mostly we have just eaten it off the cob, but last week I had to come up with something to use up the excess.

I opted to attempt to make Corn Chowder.

It was not as much work as I anticipated, but it isn’t a quick dish to throw together.

I used a recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen.

And I am sure she wouldn’t mind me sharing their website https://natashaskitchen.com and the recipe with you to try.

Corn Chowder Recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen

Makes 8 cups, 321 calories per cup

For the corn stock:

4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream

(Note from me – I used low sodium chicken broth and I used about a cup of half and half and 1/2 cup of 1% milk)

Cut the kernels from cobs and set kernels aside. Add cobs, and liquid to stock pot, bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Use tongs to remove and discard cobs before using corn stock in Step 3.

For the corn chowder:

4 cups corn kernels (4-5 ears from recipe, but I had to use 6 as they were small)
4 oz. (4 slices) bacon
1 Lg onion, finely diced (I used about half of a small onion)
1 Lg. carrot, cut into 1/4” diced (1 cup)
3 stalks celery finely diced (1 cup)
1 LB Yukon potatoes, 3 medium, peeled and cut into 1/4” thick pieces (she said slice, I did small cubes)
2-3 tsp sea salt, to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste

In 5 qt dutch oven, on medium heat, add chopped bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally until browned. Remove bacon pieces with slotted spoon and set aside.
In same pot, with drippings, add onion, celery and carrot. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally until onion is soft. (About 7-8 minutes)
Add potatoes, kernels, seasonings. Pour stock in and bring to light boil. Then simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. (I had to cook a bit longer, but left them somewhat firm)
You can serve with the bacon as garnish, but I just added it to the soup at this point.
For a creamier soup, blend about 1/4 of the soup and add back to pot. I did this and would probably blend more, like maybe a third, next time

We have been having a cup with our meals and it is delicious.

Well, there you go. All the randoms for today.

Be blessed, enjoy the sunshine if you have it and if not, maybe you can take a nap <3

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