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Dinner’s Ready: Mackinley Cross’ Corn Chowder

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Dinner's-Ready--GPP-feb-2025

Mackinley Cross is a retired school teacher with over 20 years spent teaching in an elementary classroom. After retirement, she decided to take on a position as a School Liaison Program Manager at Hulburt Field Air Force Base in Okaloosa County.

“I absolutely love my job, which I began in September 2024,” shared Mackinley. “It is the perfect blend to my experiences as an educator and a life-long military connection — my dad was in the Air Force, my husband is in the Navy, and my son is in the Coast Guard.”

Mackinley and her husband, Sean, have been married since 2010. They met in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she was teaching, and he was stationed as a diver for the US Navy. He still actively serves in the military and coaches soccer for Bayside Rush in Gulf Breeze.

Together, they have two children. James (20) is an electrician serving in the Coast Guard. He is currently stationed in Guam. Their daughter Kaia (10) is in the school choir and the Jr. Optimist Club, plays club soccer, loves art, and the list of extracurricular activities and hobbies could go on and on.

“As a family, we enjoy spending time together playing board games or card games. Some of our family favorites include Backgammon, Life, Monopoly, Phase 10, Uno, and Five Crowns,” shared Mackinley. “We also enjoy going to concerts, music festivals, and stage productions together. We also prioritize traveling and experiencing life outside of our own culture, with recent trips including Singapore, Vietnam, and South Africa.”

The Cross family tries hard to eat together around the kitchen table most nights but with demanding schedules for each one of them, it doesn’t always happen. Long nights often mean they eat dinner together while watching a favorite movie or TV Show. As of recently, they have been enjoying holiday movies and the sitcom Young Sheldon.

“I am always looking for meals I can prepare ahead of time, that freeze and reheat well, or that come together quickly,” said Mackinley. For this reason, she decided to share her favorite soup recipe with the Greater Pensacola Parents… a Corn Chowder.

“This recipe has been a favorite in our family for many years, with many iterations along the way. I believe the original recipe came from a cooking class I took at a local Junior College, but that was close to 20 years ago,” Mackinley shared.

“I refuse to prepare or eat soup when the weather is warm, so when the cold weather hits, this is always the first soup to be made. It reheats well, so if there are any leftovers, it makes a great lunch the next day.”

Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

  • 6 slices bacon, diced
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup diced sweet onion
  • 1/2 cup diced celery
  • 1/2 cup diced carrot
  • 4 cups corn kernels (frozen)
  • 4 cups broth (vegetable or chicken)
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper

Directions:

  1. To serve, carefully ladle into each bowl, sprinkling crisp bacon on top.
  2. In a large stockpot, cook bacon until crispy. Remove bacon, placing it on a paper towel to cool, leaving fat in the pot.
  3. Add onion, celery, and carrot to the pot. Cook over low heat until soft.
  4. Add flour to veggies, stirring until veggies are coated. It will be thick!
  5. Slowly add the first cup of broth, using a whisk to stir until the mixture is smooth.
  6. Once smooth, add in the rest of the broth, continuing to stir. Increase heat to medium-high and let it come to a boil. Be sure to stir frequently!
  7. Once boiling, carefully add corn to the pot. Reduce heat to low-medium and let the soup cook for 10– 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  8. At this point, you can turn the heat all the way down to simmer and let sit, partially covered, until you are five minutes away from serving.
  9. Prior to serving, stir in heavy cream, salt, and pepper. Allow to simmer on low for five minutes.

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