Eureka! Local Ingredients Only!

My recipe collection is ridiculous. The shelves are overflowing with cookbooks, random scraps cut out from magazines, and homemade binders with internet printouts. While I've managed to make it looked relatively organized to the outside world, the reality is that I'm secretly a recipe hoarder. There is no organization to my collection and I refuse to throw anything away unless I try it and it's unbearably gross. It would take at least two lifetimes to try every recipe I've stuffed on those shelves.

Despite my massive compilation, finding a recipe that doesn't use A) foreign ingredients or B)ingredients that are never naturally in harvest at the same time, is a monumental task. Two nights ago, I found one. And it was yummmmyyyyy! It is a beautiful, sweet and easy to prepare soup (especially if you have leftover baked potatoes lying around). The texture was a bit surprising. The broth is simply milk. While I expected the potatoes to thicken it up a bit, it never really did. It was a bit like eating warm, sweet, vegetable cereal. I know it sounds bizarre, but I wouldn't post it if I didn't love it.

Summer Sweet Corn Soup
(adapted from Weight Watcher's Summer Corn, Bacon and Potato Chowder)
4 servings

1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
4 ears corn on the cob, cooked and kernels removed with a knife
1 red sweet bell pepper, chopped
4 oz Canadian bacon, diced
2 cups whole milk
2 medium baking potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed
salt & black pepper, to taste
hot pepper sauce (optional), to taste

1. Melt butter in a saucepan.
2. Saute celery, onion, corn and red pepper over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
   Add bacon, milk & mashed potato.
3. Season with salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce.
4. Cover and simmer 10 minutes (do not allow to boil).