Now We're Cookin'!

Remember when I lived in an apartment with no kitchen? For a year & a half?

Unsurprisingly, I have absolutely no idea how to cook. A few kind friends have offered to assist me, but I've yet to take any of them up on it. Sometimes I call my mom with frantic questions, like "What does sauté mean?" & other times, I just tweet my questions into the oblivion & hope for help:

Today, with some help from the Twitterverse, I made soup. I know - easy, right? For you. Not for me, OK? Cooking feels totally foreign to me. I get bored. I get impatient. I can't figure out the timing. But I made this soup tonight after cleaning my apartment (I'm so domestic, y'all!), & I even messed with the recipe a little bit, changing things to my liking. There are only six steps, so I didn't have time to get all that impatient or bored.

End result? MY SOUP WAS AMAZING. I'm so happy. Life is good. And, of course, so is bacon.

Creamy Corn (& Bacon!) Soup

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
  
• 4 pieces of bacon
  
• 1 tablespoon margarine
• 3 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn
• 1 (8 oz) can creamed corn
  
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ground cayenne pepper to taste
• garlic powder to taste
• salt to taste
  

Directions

1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic, & butter or margarine. Saute for about 5 minutes, or until onions are tender.
2. Add the flour, stirring well, to make a pasty mixture.
   
3. Whisk in the milk & the broth.
   
4. Add the corn & cream cheese & allow to heat through.
   
5. Cook bacon & cut into small pieces; add to soup.
6. Add salt, garlic powder, black pepper & cayenne pepper to taste. Stir together & serve with oyster crackers or bread.