I’m as corny as Kansas in August, slow-cooker corn chowder without cheese

We are covered up in summer squashes and sinking fast. Corn and tomatoes are advancing from the east (the garden). I spend more time in the kitchen these days than at any other time of the year because you can only give away so many zucchini and hot peppers.

Stoic and I made two kinds of squash pickles Sunday and had the yellow squash-red pepper ones that night for supper on top of goat cheese and bruschetta-sized whole wheat toasts.  Next up: zucchini relish.

And then there’s the corn thing. Our neighboring produce farm says they’ll have sweet corn until Sept. 1. Ours will be in in another week or two (I hope not while I’m in Texas celebrating a friend’s 90th birthday). So the goal is ‘eat it while you got it,’ and we have been making a heroic effort.

The August issue of Southern Living has a wonderful recipe for Slow-Cooker Corn Chowder. You’ll need to do a bit of cutting and chopping and carefully follow directions, but the end result is another example of summer on a spoon. And you’ll have six big bowls of it.

Slow-cooker corn chowder

14 ears fresh sweet corn

2-1/2 cups chicken stock

2 medium russet potatoes peeled and chopped

1 small yellow onion, chopped

4 fresh thyme sprigs

3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper (this is not too much!)

4 thick-cut bacon slices, chopped, cooked and drained (I substituted prosciutto)

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

2 tablespoons chopped green onion tops

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 cup heavy cream (most of mine was evaporated milk — this is a pretty flexible dish)

Slice corn kernels from cobs using sharp knife. Reserve 1 cup corn kernels for topping. Place remaining corn in 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Add stock, potatoes, yellow onion, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low about 6 hours.

Using an immersable blender (or the old-fashioned kind if that’s all you’ve got), process chowder to make it smoother. Original directions say to remove half, process half until it’s smooth. I removed nothing, simply didn’t process out all the texture.

In separate bowl, combine reserved fresh corn, lime juice, red onion, green onion and bacon for topping. Stir cream into soup; divide among 6 bowls. Top evenly with the fresh corn “salsa.”