Heartwings says, “Homemade soup is fun to create and even more, to eat.”

Late summer or early fall is the peak time for fresh local corn. Stephen and I are very fond of it, but we can’t always get to the farmstand to buy it. Having grown up with a big garden, I’m something of a corn snob. Supermarket corn just doesn’t cut it. Fresh picked and eaten the same day is standard operating procedure for me. However, for recipes, canned or frozen corn will do. It’s usually fresher tasting than day old or maybe much more supermarket corn, and anyway, for a recipe it’s a lot less work than using any fresh corn kernels.

Stephen expressed a desire for corn chowder, so I got out some of my favorite cookbooks and began looking through them. The first snag I encountered was that without exception the recipes I found wanted me to use canned creamed corn. All I had on hand was regular canned corn. Since I didn’t particularly want to go out and buy that kind, I figured that was out. Next, I knew I didn’t want to use actual dairy milk or cream. Stephen has asthma and he is better off without actual dairy in his diet.

Coconut milk is my usual substitute for the bovine variety, and I had plenty of that on hand. Chicken broth makes a good soup base, so I figured I’d use that too. But how to thicken it? Normally I’d make a roux of butter and gluten free flour, however that seemed like too much work. I remembered seeing something about thickening soup with stale bread—was it perhaps in my ancient Fanny Farmer cookbook? I had some gluten free bread in the fridge I could use.  Then I wanted to add some onion, but I didn’t wish to take the time and energy to chop and sauté it. Cue in the blender. I was almost ready.

I opened a can of corn and poured it into my blender. Next came a cup of chicken bone broth—extra healthy, and a cup of coconut milk. I added about a quarter to a third of roughly chopped onion, some ground garlic, and a little lemon pepper. Last, I added a good-sized slice of bread torn into pieces, crust and all. If you use salt, add some now, but only a small amount. Stephen has to watch his blood pressure, so I leave it out and salt my own.

All the ingredients being present, I covered the blender and turned it on. With its usual grinding noises, it began to chop and combine the mixture it contained. Once everything in the blender was thoroughly combined, I turned it off, took off the cover and poured it into a jar to let it season a bit. I expected to cook it before we ate it so the onion wouldn’t be raw. When we had it for supper along with some toasted cheese sandwiches, we proclaimed it a success.

May your cooking experiments turn out to be delicious.

Blessings and best regards, Tasha Halpert

PS Do you have any recipes. Especially those you have created or any you are fond of, to share? I’d be so happy to see them. Meanwhile, Happy Autumn and joyous days to you. Tashahal@gmail.com