Delicious Dish : My Best Clam Chowder

Okay, so I fibbed.  It's not completely MY best clam chowder recipe but I did made several modifications after this month's book club for Orphan Train (by Christina Baker Kline)  to make it worthy of the chowders I remember back home in Southern California (you can find the original recipe here). 

 ...and I know what you're thinking.  Clam chowder? Whoa there.  Red light. That's where some of your eyes go glossy and you head over to another recipe.

I get it.

Any new recipe that has seafood or meat has my heart pounding and all sorts nervous too.  I'm more of a banana-zucchini bread/oatmeal chocolate chip/pumpkin pie kind of girl myself.

But maybe you're trying to get out of your comfort zone, away from your old boring recipes, or even getting more of an adventurous palate...there's every reason to make this chowder.  It's not "fishy" at all (if you have an aversion to seafood) and it is an insanely easy recipe that no one can screw up...except if you don't follow the most important golden rule below:

Delicious Dish: Creamy Mushroom Soup

With all the appetizers we've been posting I thought it would be a nice change to make a mushroom soup at our Nightingale book club last week, that could serve both as a main meal or a hearty side that is sure to warm you up this winter.  The seasonal blues are in full swing with all the snow we have been having, so I'm looking forward to getting my vitamin D soon.  I don't know about you, but we are all about warm and rich meals in our house right now to tide us over until spring.