If you’ve been reading OHC for any length of time, you know that one thing I love is soups.  To widen that category out, I love soups, chilis, and stews so much that I could probably eat them everyday and be fine.  Give or take a few super hot summer days where all I want to eat is ice cubes, of course.

I’ve been experimenting with fresh corn a lot this summer.  While corn on the cob will always be a favorite, fresh corn can be used in so many other applications that it’s almost mind boggling. I have found it incredibly fun to do different things with the corn I’m getting from the farmer’s markets this year.

Once you remove the corn from the cob, it can be used in salsas, salads, or just satueed up in a touch of butter.  Each experiment always…

I believe that some of the best recipes are ones you just have to create on the fly, not really knowing what you’re doing and hoping for the best.

Scott always talks about those big noodle bowls that you sometimes see at Asian restaurants and how delicious and yummy they look.

“I can make that for you.  What do they taste like?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well what’s in them?”

“I don’t know.”

“Haven’t you had one before?”

“No. I just think they look good.”

“I see.”

Not much info to work with but I decided to try and find out what I could do.  Scott was not feeling well one day and I decided to make him some “Asian soup”.  I put a bunch of stuff in a pot, added noodles and it was fantastic.  We’ve been having Asian Noodle Soup ever since when want some veggies or if Scott’s allergies are bad that day.

It’s evolved over…

I might have told you this before but I could eat soup everyday and be a happy girl.  The only other person I know of who liked soup as much as I was my father.  He could eat soup everyday as well.

Soup is great because it can have a lot or a few ingredients.  It can be hardy, creamy, or brothy.  It can be hot or cold.  It can be whatever you want it to be and it doesn’t take ages to make.  I think sometimes people have the misconception that soup takes all day long to create.  It doesn’t, I promise.

Lori recently posted her recipe for Potato and Broccoli soup for 2 and I sort of stuck that idea on the backburner so that I could make it soon.  With the recent snow storm that we just got hammered with (12+ inches of snow),…

One of the things that I wanted to do last fall was make chili with pumpkin.  Ever since I discovered my love for cooking with pumpkin puree, chili was tops on my “to-make” list.  Fall came and went without me having a chance to make some.  Thankfully I live in an area that sees a good amount of winter which provides nice chili-makin’ and chili-eatin’ weather.

One of my vegan cookbooks, Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan, has a recipe for chili using cocoa powder in it.  This intrigued me greatly!  I have used cocoa in a savory recipe before (Cocoa Chili Rubbed Chicken) but haven’t used it as a savory spice since then.  I wanted to rectify that quickly.  Could I combine my desire for using pumpkin in chili with the addition of cocoa powder without it tasting like a pudding gone wrong?

Last week I decided to experiment and find out!

Andrea’s Sweet Potato and Squash Chili

• 1 large green pepper,…