Soup's On!

I've been making this soup now since the night the tree came in. The night of the storm I made this soup for the first time with shaking hands and each time I've made it since I've been grateful for the relative peace in the house. It's really good. Give it a try!

Fishy Corn Chowder

2 oz. bacon (optional, but so great.)
1t. canola or other cooking oil
1 carrot, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
4 c. chicken or vegetable broth
8 oz. potatoes, diced
2 c. fresh corn kernels (about 4 ears) or frozen or drained canned corn in the off-season
1 - 1 1/2 lbs. tilapia cut into bite-size pieces (or other white fish)
1 t. thyme
1 c. half-and-half
2 t. lemon juice

Chop up bacon and cook in soup pot over medium heat until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Add oil to the pan and then carrot, onion, s & p and cook until the vegetables soften up, a couple of minutes. Add borth potatoes and corn. Gently simmer about ten minutes. Stir in fish and thyme and bring back to gentle simmer. Cook until the fish is done, about 5 minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in the half-and-half, lemon juice, and reserved bacon. Yum!
I should say that when I made this the other night I was interrupted in the middle with two-year-old wailing, "MA-MA! MAMA MY NOSE!" and the little miss had wedged a little stone in her nose. Wouldn't come out. I couldn't quite reach it and she kept sucking air in instead of blowing out. Her brother never did any such thing as this. His nose was his nose for smelling and sitting on his face -- not for putting stuff in! This is the second time she's done this. Months ago it was a currant. Wedged right up in there. She couldn't really talk yet but she was good at animal noises so I asked her, "What does a deer say?! Hey Bea! What does a deer say!" And she snuffed it out. What the heck.

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