Fall Is For Corn Chowder

Another week just went slipping by. I am so happy I got home in time to enjoy the trees in peak of their colors before the week of rain we’ve had. The rain and wind stripped so many leaves that bare branches are visible in some places. I can even catch a glimpse of the pond behind my house which has been completely leaf-screened all summer.

This time of year lends itself to different recipes, have you noticed? Pumpkin pie comes to mind immediately. But this past week when I went grocery shopping, the last of this year’s corn on the cob was available in packages of 5 ears each. No way could I eat that much corn on the cob, but I knew just what I wanted to do with it.

Most of the things I cook are favorites and I know them by heart and never open a recipe book. However, when I pulled it off the shelf, the Joy of Cooking still had the marker at the page for Corn Chowder from the last time I made it, probably last fall.

It isn’t hard to do and it’s so-o-o good! Bacon, onion, celery, potatoes, all diced, added to saved water from boiling the corn the day before. While that simmered, I cut the corn off three long cobs, and scraped the cobs for the juices. Mix flour and milk for thickening, add the corn, and then several cups of hot milk. Salt and pepper to taste. Yumm. I had two quarts of soup, one for the fridge and one for the freezer. Nothing like a hot bowl of soup on a gloomy day to warm your tummy - and your hands around the bowl.

Jon and Beth sent along a picture of themselves, eating lunch in a restaurant, quite a change from trekking fare. They look no worse for their long walk. Jon, maybe a little thinner; Beth still fiercely toned and not even sunburned. They promise pictures once they get a chance to organize them. They're headed for Hawaii to soak up some sun.

Something about the way the wind swirls around my house, always causes it to dump leaves right in front of my back door. I keep sweeping them up so they don’t get tracked into the house or obstruct the opening of the door. But when, as now, the two giant sycamore trees start shedding, the leaves really pile up. These leaves, as big or bigger than my hand, are tough. They don’t break up easily. Every fall I haul huge plastic-sheet loads of them to the curb for city pick-up. Some years I will have a heap out there 3 ft. high and 20 ft. long. But it’s a chore I don’t really mind.

Last night for the first time in two weeks I did not have to tape the shield to my left eye at bedtime. And the frequency of eye drops has again tapered off some. Less than two weeks until it is time to return to Dr. Lass for my final check-up.

And then, new glasses!

Be seeing you...