Out Of the Kitchen and Into the Fire

This is a bit of a silly bonus blog to highlight an awesome idea that turned out really delicious. The pics are a bit fuzzy because we were outside in the dark, but I think the idea comes through!

Last night after a failed attempt to have a bonfire at the beach (WHY was it already so packed by 5pm??) we ended up at my childhood home, enjoying a weenie roast in my parents' backyard. After all the delicious hot dogs and snacks, we whipped out the s'more fixings. The magical treat that resulted was a collaborative effort. Carrie brought all the basics, and then Julie regaled us with the tale of her sister making s'mores using Peppridge Farms Pretzel Thins instead of graham crackers. I thought that sounded amazing because the only thing I love more than chocolate and graham crackers is chocolate and pretzels. So, inspired by this idea, Deanna brazenly placed pretzels on her chocolate in the middle of her s'more, thusly:

Here's a closeup of the finished product.

Super flippin good.

I'm Corny, Corny, Corny, Corny... and Chowdery

Here's a quickie because we haven't done much interesting cooking lately but we've been itching to blog!

This weekend we threw aside any semblance of propriety and had an all out dirty bbq. The menu included home made burgers, twice baked potatoes, baked beans, and grilled veggie succotash. We're not going to blog about all that nonsense because it was all pretty basic, but we will blog about what happened to the leftover veggies. B decided they would make a pretty awesome corn chowder. In addition to corn, it included zucchini, pablano peppers, and red bells. He charged me with finding a fairly low cal recipe, and I think this was a pretty good one. We used 1% milk and the low cal Trader Joe's organic stock, so I think that brought the calories down a bit to 140 per half cup. He also added 1 tsp each of garlic salt, regular salt, pepper, and red pepper flake.

It was super easy because it was all done in the slow cooker. B chopped the potatoes Sunday night and kept them in water overnight, then threw everything except the veggies in the CrockPot yesterday morning. It simmered on low all day. When we got home he used his handblender and mixed it up a bit, then threw in the veggies and let it simmer on low while I worked out.

Here's the delicious final result:

I am madly in love with this soup. Sooooo good.