Chowder out of the Bowl

Craig and I had plans to ride a century on Sunday, and on Saturday Tropical Storm Hanna was supposed to roll through, so I thought I'd take advantage of the bad weather and make a hearty, carb-loaded meal of chicken corn chowder and bread.  CLEARLY I have a lot to learn about tropical storms.  Saturday was not particularly rainy, but it was so humid and sticky and disgusting, not weather in which to let Hollie heat up the whole house, that's for sure.  I decided to grill, and to get my grilling in before any rain came through.  I did chicken thighs, minimally seasoned, and tossed them with tiny boiled CSA potatoes, seeded tomatoes, and sauteed sweet corn.  I threw in some olive oil and lots of basil and a little ground cumin, and served it room temp with sauteed Swiss chard when we were ready to eat.  It was pretty good, just like chowder without the heat.  Or the good dairy fat--fresh mozzarella would have been the perfect addition.  I actually even made dessert, although I forgot to take a picture.  It was an only OK peach shortcake--the biscuits were heavy (I blame Hanna) and I should have taken more care with the peaches, too much cinnamon.  Not too bad though, and worth trying again--we also joined a fruit CSA and are getting a bag of apples and a bag of peaches every week right now.

Saturday's big culinary experiment was gluten-free Thanksgiving-themed stuffies.  I made 3 different kinds, cranberry, apricot, and candied ginger.  Craig took them to Lisa and Chris's last night for a taste test, and apparently they're worth perfecting.  When I see chestnuts in the store, I'll have to try throwing some of those in as well.