Corn Sausage Chowder

This recipe is a specialty of my mom, Jane.  She has been making this soup for as long as I can remember.  It brings back so many memories, not only of the cold winter evenings when she served it to our family for dinner, but also of the way she taught me about love and concern for others.  Every time a friend or family member had a time of need, and even in times of joy, my mom would always show up with a big pot of this soup and some corn muffins.  It's a hearty, comforting soup with just the right balance of cream and broth, spicy and sweet.  Of course, when we make this soup, we try to make it as natural/organic as possible.  We have been using Organic Prairie brand organic breakfast sausage lately (available in the Natural Foods freezers at your local Kroger), and it adds a great flavor to the soup.  The only organic ingredient we are having trouble finding is cream corn, so if you've seen this product somewhere, let us know in the comments!  This is also a great recipe for leftovers and it reheats very well, whether on the stove in a large batch or in small batches in the microwave.  We've even frozen a large portion and reheated it weeks later on a chilly day.

Ingredients:
1 lb pork sausage
1 cup chopped white onion
4 cups peeled potatoes, cut into half-inch cubes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried marjoram, crushed
1/8 tsp ground pepper
2 cups water
1 17-ounce can cream-style corn
1 17-ounce can whole kernal corn, drained
12-ounces milk (not skim)

Heat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat with a tiny bit of oil.  Once hot, add the sausage and brown.  Drain the grease, add the onions and cook until the onions are almost clear and starting to become limp.  While the sausage and onion are cooking, heat a large pot / saucepan over high heat and add the potatoes, salt, marjoram, black pepper and water.  Bring this mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.  Be sure to stir frequently while waiting for the mixture to boil to prevent the potatoes from burning to the bottom of the pot.  Add the sausage and onions to the pot when they are finished cooking (this may be before the potatoes are tender, which is OK).  Once the potatoes are tender, add the cream-style corn, kernel corn (drained) and milk.  Continue to heat on low heat until the entire mixture is heated through, stirring occasionally.

We think this soup goes excellently with corn muffins or corn bread.  The two textures are complimentary, but, for some, that might be too much corn.  Biscuits are a pretty tasty compliment, too.  There is usually plenty of time to bake these while the soup is cooking.