Corn Chowder

OK, so I've been cooking off and on now (William may say more off, than on) for almost 30 years. 30 years!!! I wasn't crazy about cooking to start with, but I really have found it hard to get motivated the last few years. So, in an effort to hopefully get a little more creative and more consistent I've determined to fix 4 different dishes each week. I've been doing pretty well the last 2 weeks, so I'm ready to blog and share some of my success stories. First of all my 2 recent 'sources' have been The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook and Meals Made Easy by Real Simple magazine. Really pretty pix in each book that make my mouth water. Now, I'm only going to share recipes that I feel were really yummy and I'd make again even for Book Club. (Watch out, girls!)
My first one is simply Corn Chowder. It was great. I will not make it again until September or October since I feel like it's a great fall soup. What I really loved was the cumin seasoning...so here goes:

Corn Chowder (serves 8, prep time 15 min., total cooking time 30 minutes)
3 oz butter
2 large onions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 t. cumin seeds
4 cups vegetable stock
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup canned cream style corn
2 cups fresh corn kernels (I used frozen)
3 T. chopped parsley (Not too crazy about the parsley)
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
salt and freshly ground pepper
3 T. cream (optional, I omitted)
2 T. chopped fresh chives for garnish

1. Heat butter in heavy based pan. Add the onions, cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes until golden. Add garlic and cumin seeds, cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add veggie stock, bring to boil. Add potatoes and reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes.
2. Add creamed corn, corn kernels and parsley. Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes. Stir through the cheese, salt and pepper to taste, and cream. Heat gently until cheese melts. Serve immediately, sprinkled with chopped chives.