Mama’s Ssssmokin’ Chowder

I love my mother’s kitchen.  The smells, the creativity, the knowing that something delicious will ALWAYS come out.  My father and I know how lucky we are to have such an amazing chef, and we always joke that “everything tastes better when Mommy makes it.”  Peanut butter sandwich?  Totally not the same when I make it.  Mommy has to make it.

This week, I went to visit my parents in North Carolina.  I knew I would get a break from the dreary Boston winter weather, but I also knew I would get some inspiration from my mother’s kitchen.  When I found out that I had food allergies, she took on the challenge readily.  She never once thought that she wouldn’t be able to make her usual gourmet meals, but instead took the challenge as inspiration.  Now as my father and I put down our forks and savor the deliciousness of what we just ate, she says “Gluten and Dairy Free!”

So this week, she made a couple of my favorite meals as well as some new ones.  She made grilled-to-perfection steak and dairy free creamed spinach, one of my all time favorite dinners.  (My father didn’t even know that the creamed spinach didn’t actually have cream in it!)  She also made a new pasta dish (recipe to come soon), as well as what we now call Mama’s Ssssmokin’ Chowder. She based it off a recipe she found in her local supermarket, but of course… she made it better.  It’s always better when Mommy makes it.