1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups corn kernels
2 small potatoes, cubed
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 cup flour
2 cups whole milk
salt and pepper

1. Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and sauté until tender, then add the garlic.
2. Add corn, potatoes, chicken broth and basil to the pot and bring to a simmer. Continue simmering until potatoes are tender.
3. Whisk together milk and flour and pour into the soup.
4. Cook the soup for several minutes until hot and thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 6 servings

There are some days when I'll ask Shannon what she wants for dinner and she can't think of anything but pepperoni pizza. There are other days where she's full of suggestions and we can just play off each other until we come up with something I might have not actually made before. Something I've been meaning to make for a while and never got around to it is Corn Chowder. The temperature's starting to cool off and some nice chowder is just the thing to warm us up. It's also quick, which is good, because we were starving. So much so that we were planning on eating this with ham sandwiches, but they are not pictured because we were so incredibly hungry that we ate them too quickly. I think that corn chowder and smoked pork products are a natural pairing, so anything with bacon in it or maybe just a big old sausage would go great with this.

I had a second large helping of this chowder not because I was still famished, but because it was delicious. It's a very simple and hearty soup with the typical vegetables, but those are the best kind. I like the skins on my potatoes when they're in soup, so I left them on. I also like my corn chowder with a whole lot of black pepper. These 2 things do not really affect the recipe significantly whatsoever. The best part about it is that it is much like the Split Pea Soup in being a good base for additional seasoning to keep the leftovers from getting boring, such as tomatoes and Italian herbs or Cajun spices.