Soup (Roasted Corn Soup recipe!), community, and open adoption {31 days of The Life Poetic, day 20/21}
Last winter, one of our friends did a series of Sunday Soup Nights where she and her husband cooked a batch or two of soup in the crock pot and invited a mish-mash of friends and neighbors over to hang out over dinner together.
It was a yummy dinner-y version of my Ice Cream Sundays that I used to do at our last house. I haven't quite gotten in a groove with something consistent like that since we've been in our current place, which has been, ack! almost two years. But it was fun to sort of "pass the baton" and see another friend host regular community gatherings like that for a while, stepping outside their comfort zone, and welcoming others in with open arms.
One of my favorite memories of Soup Nights was the week when Brody's birthmom randomly texted me that she was in our neck of the woods (she lives about an hour away) for the evening. I immediately invited her to join us at Sarah's house for Soup Night. Seeing her there and connecting with friends from our little community just seemed so natural. Our kids love her (and so do we).
I don't write about it too much but we've had an amazing experience with our open adoption. It was awkward and unusual at first, not surprisingly, but in the last four years we've grown to love our get-togethers with both of Brody's birthparents. A spontaneous, natural hangout was particularly special though.
Five years ago, when we began our adoption journey, I didn't know what to expect or what the future of our family held. Now, seeing where God has brought us so far has me convinced that this was exactly the path our family was meant to take. Sarah and her husband are in the early stages of their own adoption journey and I'm excited to see things unfold for them.
If you're looking to cook up some hearty comfort soup for your own community or family, here's one of my favorite soups that Sarah made for us.
Sarah's Creamy Roasted Corn Soup
Ingredients
2 bags of frozen corn (we use Trader Joe’s Roasted Corn) (set aside and save 1 cup for garnish)
Sprig of thyme
1 sweet onion, diced small
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 stick of butter (salted)
32-64oz of veggie/chicken stock
One cup of heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Bacon/shredded cheese/corn (for garnish)
Instructions
Defrost corn if already roasted. If not, simply dump it out onto a rimmed cookie sheet and roast in a preheated oven (I do it at 425*). Stir and remix every 5 minutes or so until the corn has some nice brown spots. Set aside a cup of corn for garnish
Chop onions, leeks and thyme.
Cook onions, leeks and thyme in three tablespoons of butter for about five minutes until onions are translucent. Do not brown. Add corn- don't be afraid to add more butter (up to 1 stick)!
Sauté the veggies together for 1-5 minutes. Let the corn to soak up all those yummy flavors.
Add stock till it covers the corn. Use your discretion. If you want a thicker soup just barely cover the corn. If you don’t want a super thick soup add more stock.
Bring this to a boil. Once at a boil turn heat down and simmer for 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
If using a immersion blender (I have this model and love it), blend in the pot until creamy smooth. If using a blender, ladle out the soup into blender and blend in batches. Once it is all blended smooth, put it back in the pot and whisk in the heavy cream. You do not need to add the whole cup if you don’t want to. Just till the soup is at the consistency you’d like. Bring soup back up to heat before serving, or transfer to crock pot..
Enjoy!
Thanks, Sarah, for sharing this yummy recipe with us.
Linking up with Beth's Sunday Soup Night at Red and Honey.
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This is Day 20/21 of 31 Days of the Life Poetic. View the other posts in this series here.
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