Dear Palm Springs, I miss your sun & 81 degrees. I knew I would miss it so I planned clam chowder for lunch today while sitting outside in a sleeveless dress in CA four days ago. I'm pretty good at planning. I've had this little gem of a recipe for exactly four years. I'm happy I made it and will be making a fall/winter staple. Only two hitches: 1) The grease from turkey bacon made the flour portion of the recipe not come out quite like it was supposed to but it didn't affect overall taste, and 2) The potatoes took about five minutes longer to cook than the recipe said.

Things I learned from this recipe:

Bacon grease from turkey bacon is not the same as bacon grease from pork bacon.

Serve it with rustic bread. This is beginning to be a theme in this house.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Definitely.

The recipe

Dinner: Spanish-style Shrimp + leftover chowder

Our dinner plans got canceled for tonight so I was forced to come up with something on the fly. Thank goodness I'm obsessed with recipes right now and happened to watch a video from the Seattle Times about shrimp. I really shouldn't be actively looking for more recipes, but I'm glad I watched this one. The only ingredients used were olive oil, garlic, salt, chili flakes, parsley and shrimp. I sprung for the wild, gulf shrimp, not previously frozen and they were delicious. Oh, and we ate the other half of the rustic bread loaf.

Things I learned from this recipe:

I might need to be watching more videos on cooking.

I love simple ingredients that don't make a dish seem simple in taste.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Definitely