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Chunky Potato Soup (thick, not watery!)

1 medium white onion, chopped small
1 can vegetable broth
1 can creamed corn
1 cup of half & half (do NOT get fat-free, live a little...)
4-5 medium sized red potatoes cut in bite size chunks
3-4 slices of bacon, semi-frozen
(haven't tried it with turkey bacon Katie, not sure if it would have the fat content, though if you can handle the real stuff, its worth it!)
2ish shots Three Blind Moose merlot
salt to taste
pepper to taste
a pinch or oregano

(optional, but what knocks it out of the park...)
1/4 c Philly Whipped Cream cheese
Chef Pauls Magic sesoning (veggie, pork or beef, doesn't matter which powder) to taste
a shake of Paul Cachere's Gumbo File
anything else you can think of!

Take the bacon (still cold, easier to cut) & slice it in 1/2 inch strips. Put the bacon bits in a regular, larger sized pot on med-high heat to render the fat. Keep cooking them & stirring them about letting the bacon pieces get burnt & crispy. When they are all in that state, spoon them out (straining as you do) onto a paper towel cover plate & then cover them with another paper towel.

There should be a bit of the fat in the bottom of the pot & brown bits too (that is a technical term according to America's Test Kitchen!). Take the chopped onions & toss them in the pan, coating them well with the fat. After they cook a few minutes add in the potatoes, stirring them & coating them lightly as well. Let everything just cook along like that a bit.

After maybe 5-8 minutes add the broth & corn & make sure everything is on medium heat. Once that is stirred together nicely, add the half & half & merlot. From that point let the soup base cook down & get thick & soften the potatoes. Then you can start with the spices...

Once you have it spiced to taste & the soup is more of a stew consistency & the potatoes are soft, you are ready!

plate the soup & sprinkle the bacon pieces on top & enjoy with a glass of the TBM merlot!

I do serve this with the deli bread at Freds that has chunks of garlic in it, take those slices, put a touch of (good) butter on top & sprinkle liberally with fresh or Sargento's fancy parmesan (it won't work with canned) & microwave so the cheese is melted.
Super yummy, enjoy!

at work!!!

Ro-tel (I AM from Texas)
vegetable stock (for soups)
creamed corn (for soups)
black beans
coconut milk

French toast if it is on Hawaiian or sourdough bread, if not? Thin apple pancakes with a powdered sugar dusting!

I honestly have never felt that urge! However I do have a fondness for caramel, preferably vanilla flavor, either regular or goats milk (cajeta).

tomato paste
whole peeled tomatoes
pineapple (for dairy-free pancakes)
corn
tuna (only because my husband buys & eats it. I have no idea if it's packed in water or oil though)

Tuna
Tomato products for homemade sauce (paste, stewed and sauce)
Pinto beans
Vegetarian baked beans
Corn

I can't stand tomatoes or green peppers. My mom's side of the family is Italian, so these two dislikes were particularly difficult growing up(sausage & peppers, peppers and eggs, tomato salad, caprese salad...) I've only recently come around on red peppers. And cooked tomato things like sauce and ketchup are fine by me. Raw tomatoes, though, are horrifying to me and seem always to be added to otherwise perfectly good things in order to "enhance" them; e.g. guacamole, spinach and artichoke dip (garnish), black bean soup (garnish), fajitas and burritos (you didn't tell me there'd be pico de gallo!!)...

i hate raw tomatoes...

We'll have to read the reviews from the All Candy Expo to find out what the latest craze of non-chocolate candy will bring :)

Anyone still eat Pixy Stix, Boston Baked Beans, Milk Duds or Cracker Jacks (just to get a prize)?