Got too much ham? Make soup!

This is one of those that I wasn't sure I would blog about. As I blogged about in the past, I had leftover ham from my Dec. 23 "Pre-Christmas Dinner." And I was really having a hard time figuring out what to do with the rest. Which meant that in the second week of January, I still had ham. And unlike the Christmas turkey that I had to throw out a few days after New Years, it still was good.

Don was concerned about how long the ham had been in the refrigerator. So much so, he insisted I put ham in his the night I made quesadillas. Um, OK, I remember a year where there was so much turkey after one of the holidays I made turkey quesadillas ad infinitum. But I really wanted my quesadilla to be vegetarian. So, we only used up a little more ham that night.

The next night, I had planned another very simple vegetarian meal. Cream of corn soup. Now, I could do two vegetarian meals in a row and be happy. But there was the issue of the ham. And I decided that diced ham would be really, really good in cream of corn soup.

I used a recipe from a very old cookbook. I am writing at Starbucks today, and will be going from memory, but this - minus the ham - is pretty close to the recipe.

Cream of Corn Soup with Diced Ham

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp flour

1 quart of milk (4 cups)

1 15 oz. can of corn (not creamed)

Approx 1 cup diced ham

Seasonings to taste

Melt butter in saucepan, and mix in flour. This makes a roux, which is what's great for thickening soups and sauces. Add milk, corn ham and seasonsings, and heat until roux is dissolved into the milk, the mixture is thick and has a sheen to it. Serve in bowls, add more seasonings or garnishes as desired.

The reason I wished to share this recipe with you is that if you like ham, Fresh & Easy has it on sale now, and on its blog it is sharing other soup recipes with ham. I am sorry to report that I have also recently learned Fresh & Easy is closing its stores in Ontario and Hemet. I don't think anyone I know shopped either of those Fresh & Easy stores regularly. The ones closer to me are doing well. My favorite is the one by the Jurupa Spectrum Theater (still open, no longer Edwards). I am aware of two in Riverside - one somewhere on Trautwein, the other at Madison and Arlington. I think there may be one more in a location I can't remember. Here is a link to Fresh & Easy's soup recipes.

http://blog.freshandeasy.com/2012/01/soup-recipe-round-up-january-is-soup.html