Chow-Down Chowder

1. Stage

Put the potatoes in one of the pots, and add enough water to cover them, plus an extra 2 cups. Bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, and boil 10 minutes, uncovered, until the potatoes are soft.

2. Stage

In the second pot, melt the butter on medium heat. Then sweat the onion, the celery, the green pepper, and the bay leaf in the melted butter for 3 for 5 minutes, or until you can almost see through the onions.

3. Stage

Sprinkle the flour over the onion mixture, and stir with the whisk. The goopy butter-flour mixture is called a roux (pronounced “roo”).

4. Stage

Ladle some of the hot potato water (about 1 1⁄2 cups, but you don't need to measure it exactly) into the roux pot. Stir with the whisk until most of it is smooth. (Of course, the veggies won't be smooth.)

5. Stage

Add the corn and the salt to the roux.

6. Stage

Mash the potatoes with the potato masher in the water they were cooked in until they're mush. Don't splash—it's hot! Then add the potato mush and the milk to the roux pot and bring it to a simmer while stirring occasionally.

7. Stage

Ladle the chowder into bowls. Season to taste with the pepper. Whoever gets the bay leaf gets to make a wish. But don't eat it! Bay leaf is about as tasty as shrimp tails.

8. Stage

The area of the Atlantic coast around Charleston, South Carolina, is called the Low Country. They have fun beaches and delicious food, like this corn chowder variation: Low-Country Style: Add 3 ounces of diced ham (about 3 slices worth) to the roux pot before melting the butter. Leave out the salt. (Country ham is salty.)