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The crock pot is one of the best tools for low-effort cooking, especially for meals designed to cook over several hours. If you're adapting a regular soup recipe for the crock pot, however, you probably don't need all the liquid specified. More »


Melanie Pinola08124241349828494034129530248765512943711726190399381563508206292558891775858397118913949328551856571145219259892134497700320933387269203904

Dear Lifehacker,
Rooting my Android phone went well, but I've tried to flash a custom ROM and now I think I've bricked my phone. Is there anything I can do? More »


Whitson Gordon1132771732345146786300908162041245689695129530248765512943711021945666561711659600190684916446033092

Last week, I whipped up three yummy soups, all perfect for Halloween night and all guaranteed to:

1. Give your trick-or-treaters a nice warm head start before they take off on their quest to fill their bags to the brim with candy
2. Possibly cut down on the number of pieces of candy your child will consume while he is trick-or-treating
3. I can’t think of a third thing.

Today’s recipe is a scrumptious, thick, delicious corn chowder made extra luscious with cheese. I served it in a bread bowl because corn chowder in a bread bowl is one of life’s great extravagances.

(In a moment of soupy serendipity, at the exact time I was cooking my Halloween soups last week [Broccoli Cheese among the three varieties] A Cozy Kitchen posted this beautiful broccoli-cheese bread bowl on the Tasty Kitchen Blog. I’ll post my broccoli-cheese version later this week…but that one looks utterly divine.)

And now. For zee chowder, baby.

 
The Cast of Characters: Butter, chopped onion, bacon pieces (either uncooked or cooked), fresh corn kernels, diced bell pepper (I used yellow, orange, and red; pretty!), sliced green onions, grated Monterey jack, grated pepper jack (or you can do any cheese combo!), flour, and…

NOT PICTURED because I’m rusty with Cast of Characters photos and because I’m an airhead: salt, pepper, chicken broth and half-and-half.

 
 
 
In a good-sized pot, saute the chopped onions in butter.

 
 
 
Add the bacon and saute it for a couple of minute, or until the onions and bacon become best friends forever.

 
 
 
Next, throw in the diced bell peppers…

 
 
 
And saute them around for a couple of minutes.

 
 
 
Next goes the corn.

 
 
 
Cook it for a couple of minutes.

 
 
 
And now. This is important. Use your freakiest, most disturbing-looking alien hand you have…well, on hand. And with that hand, sprinkle in some flour.

(If you do not have a freaky, disturbing-looking alien hand, you can have mine.)

(No, really. You can.)

 
 
 
Stir to incorporate the flour, then pour in the broth.

 
 
 
Stir this around and let it thicken for a couple of minutes…

 
 
 
Then pour in the half-and-half. You can also use milk. You can also use half milk and half half-and-half.

Either way, we’re getting ready to add enough cheese to render this choice irrelevant.

 
 
 
Now it’s just a matter of letting it simmer and thicken for 10-15 minutes or so.

 
 
 
Yum!

 
 
 
Now just dump in a bunch of green onions…

 
 
 
And a bunch of cheese.

 
 
 
Stir it around, check the seasonings, and add some black pepper.

Now you can just stick on the lid and turn off the stove for a little while; it’ll stay warm for awhile.

 
 
 
Behold zee boule.

 
 
 
Lop off the top, then pick out the innards, leaving a small margin of bread in tact.

 
 
 
Gnaw on these if you’re hungry, or stick ‘em in a baggie and save ‘em…or feed ‘em to the ducks.

 
 
 
Then grab a ladle…

 
 
 
And fill up the hollowed-out boule with the creamy, wonderful, slightly crunchy goodness.

 
 
 
This is a rather large boule, I will say that. But some stores sell them smaller than this (or, if not, I’ll show you a trick with my next soup post.)

 
 
 
To die for. If you have corn-loving trick-or-treaters in your house, they’ll love this.

Enjoy!

 
Recipe: Corn & Cheese Chowder

Prep Time: 15 Minutes  |  Cook Time: 20 Minutes  |  Difficulty: Easy  |  Servings: 12

Print Recipe 3"x5" Cards 4"x6" Cards Full Page Ingredients

• 4 Tablespoons 1/2 Stick Butter
• 1 whole Onion, Chopped
• 3 slices Bacon, Cut Into Pieces
• 3 whole Bell Peppers, Finely Diced (red, Yellow, Orange)
• 5 ears Corn, Kernels Sliced Off
• 1/4 cup All-purpose Flour
• 3 cups Chicken Stock Or Broth
• 2 cups Half-and-half
• 1 cup (heaping) Grated Monterey Jack
• 1 cup (heaping) Pepper Jack
• 1/3 cup Sliced Green Onions
• Bread Bowls

Preparation Instructions

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Cook onions for a couple of minutes. Add bacon and cook for another minute or so, then add diced bell peppers and cook for a couple of minutes. Finally, add corn and cook for a minute.

Sprinkle flour evenly over the top and stir to combine. Pour in broth and stir well. Allow this to thicken for 3 or 4 minutes, then reduce heat to low. Stir in half-and-half, then cover and allow to simmer/thicken for 15 minutes or so.

Stir in cheeses and green onions. When cheese is melted and the soup is hot, check seasonings. Add salt and pepper as needed.

Ladle into hollowed out boules and serve immediately.

Posted by Ree on October 23 2011

To see photos of 89 MOAR corgis in costumes, visit our friends at BuzzFeed!

Tagged: around the interwebs, corgis, costumes, doctor who, halloween

Another cool technique for your bag of CNC panel-cutting tricks.  The booklets and photos shown here are from the Dutch firm Snijlab lasersnijden (which, obviously, translates as “Snijlab Laser Ninjas”).   The method is kind of like kerf-bending, but the cuts go all the way through the substrate. [via Boingsy Boing]

More:

• Where’s all the CNC kerf-bending?
• What’s this kind of joint called?
• Literary gold mine for CNC millers

Filed under: Business, North America, United States, Transportation, Budget Travel, News, Travel Deals, Women's Travel

Who doesn't love free travel? With a new hub in Atlanta, Georgia, Megabus is giving away 10,000 free seats to travelers using their new routes during trips taking place November 16 to December 16, 2011. The eleven cities included in the new route leaving from Atlanta include:

• Birmingham, Alabama
• Mobile, Alabama
• Montgomery, Alabama
• Charlotte, North Carolina
• Chattanooga, Tennessee
• Knoxville, Tennessee
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Nashville, Tennessee
• Gainesville, Florida
• Jacksonville, Florida
• Orlando, Florida

To take advantage of the offer, just enter the promo code ATL10K when reserving your seat online.

Travel in the southern United States for free with Megabus originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jessica Festa12953024876551294371

Artist Amy Mebberson recasts Jim Henson's Muppets as characters from the world of BBC's Doctor Who.

HEART ATTACK
doesn’t matter had bacon

Submitted by:

Zhiradu

Via: No

This DIY project from Cameron Texter is made after a Lensbaby, but is built completely different. And when we say completely, we mean with tape. It’s made of only parts of an extension tube and macro filters. If you pushed me the wall, I would say that it is similar to the Lensbaby Muse, but even more similar to the original Lensbaby, because of the images having a blue glow around bright whites and silvers in the resulting photographs, and because of the fact that the images aren’t that sharp and have a “dreamy” soft focus look to them. (and they aren't that sharp just as the sea isn't that dry). The concept is similar to the bendy and plunger lenses but uses tape and extension tubes rather than a plunger.

The build is pretty simple. You just have to have the right parts to do this project, Here are the good news - if you are into macro photography, you should have the parts.

read more

udijw16804125179711529472077174519718345675581295302487655129437116119893837603053762

Android: There's no shortage of mobile apps that allow you to look up recipes, bookmark them, and share them with your friends, but ChefTap also imports recipes from other web sites and food blogs, and walks you through their recipes, step by step, as you cook them. More »


Alan Henry04943706566864599547009081620412456896951295302487655129437118372032967891489079

(author unknown)0932044383505137228606116302025693436521149217429277559139490665833070994595983304184801176909727666095063941269445898251808971126344745847212627968111350707198162412685675943247010929384408946709941407770198877868642200147070863851516868330117003989869972303607470540837369672322127202000111559770911217184184994959208509839410686455944806056925403908259684690960423447187948450712228177151815100421161240793328237736471424379763241555483200093540234633111739030341742913284062641788888578727286426816360235967539929036119671016868067216660415348778543810995008625815719524137557141367619832307605711154963826646343653601727980863385494646111125887681063047700579865334562600606912953024876551294371113230710147801957001826077748558043089507515203479821707544081518684536222280310865607429812826418113196577566761644968060945899676904941120547031894693277429818147646919628861838111940201605681705141788899445549976079508240865687865505119030167277616750326000324165369313875922114571805640875600340026948633521557063301341597861570955812915809283306842493911106275061451922287351409119152859193445508570830811993584186183236112706295800040811905051320499717612006236744221234806127778425503988343681687062428505473219911077217315920666881002715523240026500911025449404233206189200056056922834270077121049819342648655930177274917896891945014992851576689771628041394955310609720761360283530295167325707671522364673887875131219940326342206600213706321447228638113399843360271014998099239673056132008171311542365355505111503762645183654638432075062300986236775960030568000268374799217087089184986077938

Submitted by: Unknown

cat hair on everything My job here is finished

kittehz r bery partikyooler bout der hayrz.

LoL by: Lynda

Picture by: Unknown

If you love mushrooms, growing delicious oyster mushrooms in your fridge is an easy if not quick process. You'll need a fresh Oyster mushroom with it's woody base still attached, sterilized sawdust (pet cedar shavings), a few handfuls of straw, and common household items such as paper bags, 1-gallon freezer bags, and hydrogen peroxide. The entire process will take six months to result in free mushrooms, but your total time and cost investment is minimal. More »


David Galloway0959793394800956517800507181780188381867129530248765512943710435236477449901817700320933387269203904

If you've had an unused box cake mix in your pantry for a while, you can turn it into a batch of cookie dough by adding two eggs, half a cup of melted butter, and any additions (chocolate chips, raisins, etc.) you'd like. More »


David Galloway00908162041245689695129530248765512943711581591972640956613600996619198167221586143390027844471151451672558997802257080700320933387269203904

So you've decided it's time to learn your way around the kitchen, but you don't really know where to start. From knife basics to budget stretching to proper food storage, here are the most important things you'll want to learn as you become a master chef. More »


Whitson Gordon0105872609618865175112840122275795462713088216587538564839310123991096414105860100908162041245689695129530248765512943711359153899208166653116804050155644961906078315590427662468391021945666561711659604356394225851775729000212914676763095070932408914891367746400320933387269203904

Googler Daniel Russell knows how to find the answers to questions you can't get to with a simple Google query. In his weekly Search ReSearch column, Russell issues a search challenge, then follows up later in the week with his solution—using whatever search technology and methodology fits the bill. This week's challenge: How do you figure out who owns a specific piece of land? More »


Daniel M. Russell043300473210222178451295302487655129437110219456665617116596

When you need to clean up a lot of water, you're supposed to use a water-friendly vacuum. These can be rather pricey to buy or rent, but if you've got a regular vacuum you can upgrade it for just $1. As Instructables user tycoyoken points out, all it takes is a few household items and some know-how. Here's what you'll need to make the conversion: More »


Adam Dachis18313303092390547531081242413498284940341295302487655129437113591538992081666531175356527016698132690965621859857543922014905331972868282735079423705110693896110032093338726920390409688286636185986359

Submitted by:

EyeDubya1001