Idaho Potato Chowder!

OH MYLANTA.

This soup came out so very, very good. I could live on this soup. I had some leftover ham and a fresh 15 lb. bag of Idaho potatoes and a hankering for soup....

So I checked online and saw some recipes and realized that all chowders are not created equal. I checked the ingredients and gosh... you can add a lot of things to chowders!

This is a delicious one with basic stuff that's probably in your fridge and cupboard right now:

1 stick butter
1/3-1/2 cup chopped onions
2 or 3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
4 Tablespoons flour
Salt and pepper to taste
7 cups milk
4 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 12-16 oz bag frozen corn
3 or 4 slices of thick ham, chopped
If you've got some bacon, throw it on and cook it somewhat crispy... for crumbling!

(Cheese can be added to this soup. I've made it with 2 cups of extra sharp shredded cheese, but simple sharp is fine, too.)

Melt butter in large Dutch oven style pan. Add in onions and celery, cook lightly until not quite transparent. Add garlic. Stir. Whisk in flour, salt and pepper. Stir in milk, whisking until all is blended.

Heat to boiling, whisking. Add in chopped potato, chopped ham and corn. Continue cooking at high simmer/low boil until potatoes are done, about fifteen minutes or so.

Cheese can be stirred into soup last five minutes OR you can garnish bowls of soup with shredded cheese and it will melt into the soup. Can be garnished with bacon, but I mixed a half-dozen slices of crispy, chopped/broken bacon right into the soup.

This was one of the best soups I've ever made... and it made so many people happy.

We like happy people because Farmer Dave and Lacey caught that bug that's had them coughing for weeks... :(  So they were liking soup!!!!

And here is our pretty moon... what a gorgeous sight this was!

And with Christmas approaching, Logan (almost 9 years old) and I have been stringing lights and hanging ornaments in window panes and setting up the life-sized Santa and his 9 reindeer made by Great-Great-Grandma Blodgett.... and her son, Uncle Chuck.

This is one of our favorite things, to have inherited this monster-sized set. Oddly enough I was the only one who spoke up when they asked who wanted it???

I was gobsmacked! And happy!!!!!

Each deer has to be staked into the ground with heavy duty stakes on both sides... And then I run twinkle lights as "tracers"... and two spotlights so that folks driving by can see Santa and his crew!

The whole thing was hand-made and hand-painted. Uncle Chuck did most of the cutting and fastening, but Grandma did the painting in her 80's and 90's.

She was a game one, that Grandma!!!!

Santa and friends at night:

And over by the house, tucked above one of my little ponds....

Oh come! All ye faithful... joyful and triumphant!

I burned my first batch of sponge candy today. You'd think I'd learn, but no...

We'll try again tomorrow!

But for now, Merry Christmas from Ruthy... and Blodgett Family Farm in Western New York!

Multi-published inspirational author Ruthy Logan Herne loves writing heartfelt stories of faith, hope and love. You can find her huddled in her old farmhouse all winter long, typing away, making things up, the very thing she would have gotten into trouble for as a kid. But not anymore! Friend her on facebook or follow her on Twitter or stop by her website ruthloganherne.com  She loves chatting with folks and sometimes bossing them around. Nicely. Of course.