End of the World or a Storm?

I went into town yesterday to fill our truck up with gas in preparation for the supposed ice/snow storm working its way into Oklahoma Sunday night into Monday.  While pumping gas into the truck, I told myself dinner tonight can’t be salad.  It’s too darn cold out; we need something that will warm up our bellies.  Okay, so my decision was to change up the menu for dinner.  I’ve decided we’re going to have soup.  I have all the items in the freezer and pantry to make a belly warming meal.  We can have chicken soup, beef soup, fish soup or a vegetable soup.  Then as I was topping off the gas tank, I recalled a conversation I had several weeks ago with Bulldog Man.  He asked me if I had ever had corn chowder.  My response to his question was, no I have not.  After pumping the gas, I told myself we’re going to make corn chowder tonight.  It will be a nice little surprise for Bulldog Man. I knew I had everything I needed in the pantry to make the chowder except cream of corn.  Okay, not a problem.  I will just stop at the local Wal-Mart-- it’s just down the street from the gas station and pickup the cream of corn up and another baking sheet for baking cookies.  It won’t take but just a minute to run in get what I need and run out.  I drove into the Wal-Mart parking lot; to my surprise the lot was full. I asked myself, is Wal-Mart giving stuff away? The only time I have seen the local Wal-Mart this busy is when there is a holiday coming up (Christmas, Easter, Halloween ect…).  It took me a while to find a parking place. Once in the store, I hurried up and found the baking sheet I needed and went on to find the cream of corn. Everyone in the grocery section of the store seemed to be buying groceries as if the world was coming to an end.  When in actuality, all that was happening was a potential ice/snow storm coming our way. The local news media predicted the potential of approximately 2 days of bad weather. Of course the media made a big to do about how this is going to be the biggest storm to hit Oklahoma in a while.  Shelves of food, specifically soups, vegetables, cereal and drinks were practically gone or strewn all over. I was so happy to find my cream of corn, I hurried up to the cash register and paid for my merchandise and left the frenzy back at the store.

The moral of my story; no matter what the situation, you need to consider being prepared for anything at all times.  Storms, loss of electricity, and emergencies happen all the time.  Consider stocking food and water in your pantry for those emergencies. Remember you need enough food and water to feed your entire family for several days.  Don’t find yourself doing shopping the last minute.  If you do, you may not find the food needed to feed your family during the emergency.

Please don’t get me wrong, I am a prepared person. I refuse to wait the last minute before an emergency to make sure my family is well taken care of.   I just wanted to surprise my husband with making him a soup he asked me about.  Generally speaking, I don’t stock cream of corn in my house.  So it was just a little something I needed to pickup.  Was it worth going to Wal-Mart and dealing with the crowds?  Let me say, Bulldog Man loved the soup.  Does that answer the question?

Corn Chowder (Serves 3 to 4)

½ large green pepper, chopped (no seeds)

½ onion chopped

Saute green pepper and onion together with a little olive oil in a soup pot.

Add to pot:

3 ½ cups of potatoes diced

3 cups of water

1 (tube of frozen or a can of cream of corn)

1 can evaporated milk

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Cook until potatoes are done, then serve.

Compliment soup with your favorite bread.

JI would have included a picture but the soup was gone before I thought about taking the camera out.  Next time folks!