chicken, artichoke and corn soup with puff pastry "croutons"

it's so freaking cold outside that lately, all i want to eat is soup. nice, warm, comforting soup. while perusing soup recipes on food network, i came across a recipe for cream of chicken soup. many of the reviewers thought it tasted like chicken pot pie, which sounded fantastic to me. (although, to be honest, i never thought to myself, "gee, i wish i could drink this chicken pot pie!")

to add a twist to it, i also included corn and artichoke. years ago, i had a chicken, artichoke, corn chowder which was just delicious. the geek declared this soup tasty (although he did leave a couple artichokes in his bowl). he also declared undying love for the puff pastry "croutons".

chocolate zucchini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

i first met chocolate zucchini cake in college. on my way to my campus job, i'd often stop at a sundry shop to pick up a coffee or grab a soda. while standing in line one day, i picked up the moistest chocolate cake i'd ever seen. it wasn't until it was half-way devoured that i read the label...chocolate zucchini cake. zucchini? i had to read the ingredients to be sure that the zucchini in the name was really the vegetable and not some fancy baking technique. indeed it was! who knew?

not only was the cake moist and delicious, it had a vegetable in it! for a college student with questionable cooking skills and eating habits (24 hour pizza delivery did not help), this qualified as 'eating healthy.'

after college, i got a 'real' job and no longer frequented the university campus. i soon forgot all about chocolate zucchini cake....until last week. i saw it listed on a menu and decided to figure out how to make it at home.