Wannabe me

Way back when Matt and I lived in Logan and went to Utah State University we had a problem.  

It was the Food Network.

We watched Emeril, Bobby Flay, Alton Brown, Mario Batali, the Iron Chef...

and we cooked.  and we ate.  and we got fat.

After a while, I realized that the Food Network had directly contributed to our substantial weight gain, and I banned it from our lives.

And we lived happily ever after.

Right.

Anyway, it's happening again.

I have a serious addiction to food blogs.

They are so fun to read!  They inspire and challenge me, and they make me want to cook and bake ALL the time.  

That's a bad thing for me, as I already have uncontrollable cooking/baking urges.

I've been a serious stalker of the Pioneer Woman  for some time, and now I've begun branching out.  Lottie and Doof is a new favorite.  Cupcake Project is SO much fun. 

The truth is, I'll happily follow links from my favorite food blogs to new food blogs for hours at a time.  I have to tear myself away from them.  

I try at least 2 new recipes every week, and I'm making up my own more recipes more than ever before.  

I'm spending a LOT of time in the kitchen.

Trying to balance that out with time spent in the gym, so we don't have another Food TV-style incident on our hands.    

The most embarrassing part about my food blog addiction is that I've started taking pictures of the food I make.

Last week I attempted to make Matt's favorite soup - corn chowder.  It was a Wednesday night LOST themed meal.  Each weeks meal is based around a character.  Last week was Kate - I made what I considered to be 'Diner Food', since her mom worked in a diner, and that's where many of the characters met her.  We had (faux) Fried Chicken and Corn Chowder.  

Anyway, the corn chowder was a triumph.  I've never been a huge fan of corn chowder, but this was beyond yummy.  It was awesome.  And I had to take pictures of it.

As I was photographing my soup, Matt looked up with one of his "what the Hell are you doing?" expressions.

And I confessed...I'm a wannabe food blogger.

If I could take a decent picture, I swear I'd be posting recipes all the time.  

Here's my corn chowder - because seriously, people, it was SO GOOD.  

1. Finely chop 2 medium carrots, 2 stalks celery and 1 small onion.  Lightly salt vegetables. Saute in olive oil over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until soft.

2. Transfer to crock pot and 2 1/2 cups chicken broth, 1/2 cup white wine, 2 bay leaves, 1tsp dried thyme, 1/2 tsp paprika.

3. Peel and chop 2 potatoes into small pieces and add to crock pot.

This I let cook on low for about 3 hours.  

4. Add 4 cups frozen corn kernels and 2 cups whole milk.  

I turned the crock pot up to high and let cook for another hour.

After an hour I removed the bay leaves and used my wand mixer thing to puree some of the soup.  I just sort of poked it around until the texture what where I wanted it - still with lots of chunks.

Meanwhile, I peeled and boiled 4 additional small potatoes.  When they were soft, I melted half about 5 tablespoons of butter in the microwave.  Then I added about 3/4 cup of whole milk to the butter and put it back in the microwave for 30 seconds, until it was hot.  

I used a potato masher to mash the potatoes and work in the butter/milk mixture, until I had a very thin mashed potato - almost a puree.  This I stirred into the soup, along with about 1/2 a cup of shredded cheddar cheese.  

On top we dolloped a spoonful of sour cream and sprinkled more shredded cheese and crumbled bacon.  It was to die for.

And here's the final picture.  Sadly, this is the best of about 20 that I took.  There are no garnishes on it, it seemed easier without.

I'm aware that my 'recipe' kind of sucks.  I'm really bad at step by step instructions, etc.  It looks unclear - even to me!  Far too many about's.  Real recipe's don't say 'about' so often.  

Oh well.  I guess that's why I'm not a food blogger.

But the soup was good.  Try it.

P.S. I know my LOST dinners are silly.