My mother has been hamburger chowder making as long as I can remember. Gary loves when I think to make it, which hasn’t been often enough. He’s going to be excited to come home tonight and discover that I’ve made some for him.

RECIPE

Chop up a whole yellow onion and a few ribs of celery. (How much does that add up to? I don’t know. Depends. Depends upon how many people you are going to feed.)

Fry it with 1 to 1  1/2 pounds of ground beef or turkey. (I use lean meat. I don’t like grease.)

ADD:

2 beef bouillon cubes (or 2 teaspoons granular bouillon) I’ve used chicken or vegetable bouillon in a pinch.

1 large can of chopped tomatoes (or whole tomatoes you’ve smushed up) I always put in a quart of tomatoes because I bottle them in quarts. Tomatoes are a great soup-extender, and I don’t mind adding extra.

4 cups hot water

1 whole bay leaf

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

1- 10 oz. package frozen vegetables

SIMMER for one hour.

Add 1 cup noodles and cook until they are soft. I tend to extend the soup at this point, too. Tonight, I put in three big handfuls; that had to be a lot more than 1 cup.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. (If you are a red-pepper-flake kind of person like I am, this soup is good with it sprinkled on the top right before you dig into the bowl.)

Take out the bay leaf before you serve it. (You don’t want anyone to accidentally get it in their bowl.)

By the way, that happened to my mom once. It caused quite a stir at the dinner table. Mom was horrified that she’d forgotten to remove it, so I always think, “Take out the bay leaf! It will kill you!”

Want to make this ahead of time or freeze it to eat another day? It’s easy. Just follow the recipe up until the point where you put in the noodles and refrigerate. When you are ready to serve it, bring it back to a boil and cook the noodles.

Last night, we had one of our favorite soups. A very easy, thrifty, and great tasting Corn Chowder.

RECIPE

Cut about 1/2 cup or 1 cup bacon or ham into small pieces. We usually use turkey bacon or ham. It only takes a few slices.

Chop up a little onion - we like green onions – and fry with the meat. I always do this in the pan that the soup will be made in. No reason to have dirty two pans, I say.

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Add one can of cream style corn. We usually double the recipe, so we used two. I have no idea why Andrew got out three cans. I took the photo without thinking about it. Thought I’d clarify this point so you won’t get confused.

Add three cups milk and one cup mashed potatoes or dried potato flakes. (Potato buds work, too.) The potato thickens the soup as it heats up.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Heat the corn chowder and serve.