Pumpkin Corn Chowdah

For this round of homegrown gourmet, I chose the challenge to be SOUP. And what better way to make a soup representative of New England than to make a chowder (something enw for me too!) I ahve no interest in dealing with clams so I thought I would put my own twist on it... I added corn, since corn chowder is a classic, and 1/2 a local pumpkin, some bacon and local tomato for color. I topped it with lobster, and Ryan and I had a fabulous, albeit not so healthy, meal!

Pumpkin Corn Chowder

6 oz bacon, cooked in soup pot, removed and crumbled (leave the fat)

1 large onion, diced (add to pot on med high with bacon fat, stirring)

1/2 a smallish pumpkin, peeled, seeded, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

4 ears of corn, kernals cut off

3-4 med to large red potatos, chopped into bite sized pieces

Let cook, stirring, about 5 min. Add 3-4 cups of stock (more for a thinner broth, less for thicker) and let the soup come to a boil. Cook until the pumpkin and potatos are cooked through. Add 1 cup of half and half, 1-2 tablespoons fresh thyme, and the bacon. Chop up 2 small tomatos into small pieces and stir in about 5 minutes in. Let simmer until thickens slightly (about 5 more min). Serve, topping with Lobster meat (optional)