Ian's Chicken Corn Chowder

I wrote about fighting off the winter blues last week. It's amazing what some sun, a good book, and laughs with friends can do to help alleviate a gloomy mood. 

This past weekend was a welcome reprieve after the bitter cold early February brought to the city. Our radiators, which usually sound like freight trains steaming through the apartment, quieted down then shut off. Saturday morning we woke up to a flood of sunshine and the familiar sound of birds chirping. I rushed over to open the windows and announced, "Spring is here!". It's not.... this week brought blustery winds, rain, and I put away all hopes of putting away all sweaters.

Even though last weekend's warmth was short lived, Spring IS coming. It's really just around the corner. If nothing else, my sinuses are living proof. They've started to pack their bags for their yearly spring time attempt to evacuate my head. 

The short glimpse of warmer weather was enough reason to go outside and take advantage of the sunshine. I celebrated with long walks around the neighborhood, dress shopping, brunch, even an ice cream cone! We also cooked, a lot. For the first time in weeks. Prosciutto and spinach pizza, pesto pasta salad, warm root vegetable + grain salad (recipe soon), and the highlight of the weekend: Ian's Chicken Corn Chowder.

I've talked about this soup before, it's my absolute favorite. Loaded with flavor, it manages to be both light and hearty. The perfect Snap You Out of the Winter Blues and Get You Ready for Spring dish. I love this soup so much I crave it more often than chicken noodle, which is saying A LOT. I'm not going to wax poetic about it because that will just stand between you and this recipe. Make this soup, sop it up with a crusty piece of bread, and I guarantee you'll be full but heading back into the kitchen for seconds. Enjoy!

 

Ian's Chicken Corn Chowder

Ingredients

• 2 cans creamed corn
• 2 cans regular corn
• 2 cartons chicken broth
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1-2 carrots, diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped
• 2 Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
• 1 pack chicken breasts, diced
• 1/4 cup flour + enough water to make runny paste for thickening
• 1-2 tsp. paprika, to taste
• 1-2 tsp. salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a large, heavy bottomed soup pot caramelize the onions and add potatoes.
2. Cover the onions and potatoes with all the chicken broth. Bring to a rolling boil.
3. Once the potatoes are tender, add carrots and bell pepper. Turn down the heat to medium, stirring often.
4. Stir in the evaporated milk.
5. Make a mixture of the flour and water until you have a runny paste. Stir into the soup. 
6. Turn down the heat to simmer and continue to stir until your chicken is tender. Really, really stir. 
7. Add paprika, salt, and pepper. Let simmer for another 2-3 min. then toss in scallions. 
8. Remove from heat and serve with a side of warm, crusty, Italian bread. 

Grains of Salt

Trivial, small, cheery... glimpses into the items that shaped my week. 

Mini-donuts (they were free!) served as a pre-brunch appetizer during a spontaneous Baltimore weekend trip with my sister. 

This stack of blankets at my grandmother's apartment in Baltimore. One of the few things she brought with us when my family fled the Soviet Union. They remind me of my family's first few years in the United States. I remember being wrapped up in their warmth, listening to my parents and grandparents sitting around the dinner table, drinking black tea, talking and laughing for hours.  (The Soviet Union did many things very, very wrong but wool blankets they got SO right.)

Mini-cupcake at the sweetest bridal shower. I had 4. No regrets. 

My little man who crashed hard after playing with his favorite toy moose all day Sunday. Being a puppy is exhausting! 

Winter Blues + Grains of Salt

There are plenty of blogs that I read and really enjoy that make it seem like their author's lives are all good lighting and perfectly tossed pillows. I scroll through my favorite, beautifully curated, IG accounts and feel weird pangs of guilt that my granola isn't homemade and I didn't think to use leftover beet greens in my winter salad. Consistently stocked pantries and apartments that have no sign of pet hair amaze me. Lives seen through the perfect lighting of social media feel perfect, even in the winter, when everything is grey and messy. On most days, these reads help me feel inspired to make a change in how I approach taking care of myself and my home. Unfortunately, this season hasn't brought any inspiration. Lately, scrolling through pretty photos makes me feel like I've reached some insurmountable hurdle. Like I'm constantly playing catch-up to this imagined life that I will never be able to lead. I feel bad that my recipes are tired and my current routine consists of more morning stops at Starbucks than I'd like to admit. 

The winter blues are very real over here.

All this made me start thinking about why I started writing this blog. The purpose isn't to preach a self-actualized life (whatever that means) but to share with you what I'm learning as I stumble through my day-to-day. I know that no one wants to see the imperfect and that messes don't make for good photos. But, there seems to be a lack of showing/discussing the normal: couches covered in dog toys, bookshelves stacked with unsorted mail, the one plant that will. not. bud. My goal is to show you my normal while pushing myself to try new things and improve. In other words, some days are full of pretty pictures of homemade bagels, but most days I'm forgetting to pack myself a lunch and scrambling last minute to fix dinner.  What I'm starting to realize is that it's ok to feel like I am falling short as long as I keep pushing toward my goals. 

I have a tendency to see things in large scale and compare myself to others. I tend to think of progress and change as something only measured in the future. The reality is: small actions actually inspire bigger self improvement. Taking a pause and appreciating my present does not come naturally. So, I'm trying to start small- waking up earlier, working out in the mornings, cutting out chugging coffee first thing... I'm not someone who easily falls into new routines, or reads an inspiring blog post and changes her habits in a flash. I'm slow to change and new goals need to marinate before I let them soak into my daily routine. 

More than anything, I'm trying to focus more on the trivial things to measure my progress. Now, I know this is cliche... "appreciate the little things!", blah blah... I know. But for someone like me, someone who isn't prone to always seeing the positive, taking value in the little things is turning into a survival tactic. 

This week I'm starting a new series on this site: document that which makes me appreciate the present, every week. Small, large, cheery, sad.... I urge you to contribute. It's so easy to get caught up in well-lit and filtered lifestyles perpetuated by others. Let's pause and acknowledge our own markers of progress. 

Send your images to withagrainofsalt@gmail.com or tag them on IG as #grainsofsalt and I will feature them here.

Over the hump we go!