Corn Chowder

yield: 12 bowls

• 6 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
• 3 medium red potatoes, diced
• 1 bag of frozen corn
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup flour
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup half-and-half

1. in a large pot, fry bacon
2. once cooked, add veggies and seasonings
3. cook until veggies are tender
4. sprinkle flour over veggies and stir
5. pour in broth and add bay leaf
6. bring to boil
7. then reduce heat and simmer 30 mins (or more)
8. about 10 mins before serving, remove the bay leaf and add in the half-and-half
9. serve

This one was a HUGE hit for us and it went great with BLTs!  Bryker really enjoyed it and I think he loved it even moreso as a leftover!  Yum!

 

Buster Bar

Anyone who’s ever tasted the deliciousness of my mom’s buster bar is beyond excited to see this recipe posted…so in advance…you’re welcome and enjoy!

yield: I’d say 1 large serving but more modest people would say 12

• 1 pkg oreos, crushed (reduced fat works fine)
• 2 sticks of butter
• 1 cup milk choc chips
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 can evap milk (fat-free works fine)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 qt vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup salted peanuts (don’t use honey roasted, oops)

1. melt one stick of butter and mix with crushed oreos
2. press oreo mixture in as crust (you can use a cake pan or a spring form pan depending on how fancy you want to be)
3. put a 1-2” thick layer of ice cream on top of the crust
4. freeze overnight
5. combine the other stick of butter, choc chips, powdered sugar and evap milk in a saucepan
6. bring to boil, once at a rolling boil time 8-10 minutes for fudge sauce to thicken
7. stir often
8. remove from heat and add vanilla
9. let sauce cool COMPLETELY (I’d recommend making this the night before you plan to serve your buster bar because if it’s not completely cooled it’ll melt your ice cream and you’ll have a funky looking – still great tasting – dessert.)
10. the next day, top ice cream cake with peanuts and then pour on the hot fudge sauce…and as I said earlier – ENJOY!

Usually it’s done in a cake pan for our family events but yesterday I was feeling a bit fancy…so I broke out the spring form pans we got over 4 years ago for our wedding and finally used one!