And a bonus recipe! Auntie Jo's pick-a-little, drink-a-little, open-a-couple bags corn chowder!

Right. First you need to pour yourself a glass of something. Scotch is my preferred drink when the high (as it was today) is sevenfuckingteen degrees.

Dump a little olive oil in a big pot.

Open a bag of chopped, frozen onions-and-celery you got at the grocery store. (What?! They were three for a dollah!)

Dump it in there when the oil is warm and let it cook, covered, while you:

Chop up four Yukon Gold potatoes (peeled, if you're me and can't stand potato peels)

Chop up a container of smoked ham

Mince two cloves of garlic

Chop up four carrots, or open a bag of pre-sliced, frozen carrots, also three-for-a-dollah.

Dump all aforementioned veggies into the pot. Let them sizzle for about ten minutes, then add:

One half carton of unsalted chicken stock (this part is important. Salty chicken stock will make your finished product inedible.)

Allow to simmer until the potatoes are almost translucent all the way through.

Pour another glass. Savor.

Add two bags of frozen corn and about three cups of milk.

Drop in two bay leaves and a few grinds of black pepper.

Simmer. For two hours. While you talk on the phone to Pal Kelly and solve the problems of the world.

Eat. With the biscuits you made earlier.

Feel sorry for all the people who are weatherbound and who do not have this marvelous corn chowder to look forward to.