Make Mine Monday Soup: Cheesy Potato Soup

No picture today and not much of a recipe but a quick road map to cheesy potato soup.

Even though it is still pretty warm around here and it was a bright sunny day, the wind was whipping the leaves around like it was clearing a path for the first snow. It made me want to sit down with a thick bowl of soup and dip in some crusty bread.

Of course it was also a day for working and playing at muckety mucking. I stitched head bands and badges all day until it was time to go to the swanky reception at the post old money club. Yeah, they let me through the doors once a year for a reception. If you weren't invited and given a map there is no way you would ever know the place even existed. It is a gorgeous old barn that has been polished and shined and upgraded to a very posh place for a reception.

I wasn't really in the mood for a soiree. I did my schmoozing, traded business cards, made connections and bailed out. By the time I got home I just wanted my soup. Of course there was no such soup awaiting. I had to make it up... So here is what I did.

Fried a handfull of pre-cooked bacon pieces (for salads) in the bottom of the soup kettle. (Burned the first batch and started over.) Added a small amount of chopped onion to the new batch in the clean kettle and sauteed until the onion was soft. Allowed the bacon and onions to drain on a plate.

Added a box of chicken stock to the kettle. Added a bunch of cleaned and cubed redskin potatoes. I added then until the stock in the kettle was pretty much full of potatoes. Brought it to a boil and cooked for about 15 minutes until the potatoes were soft. Added the bacon and onions back in. Took about 2 cups of shredded cheddar. Mixed in about 2 tablespoons of flour and stirred it all together until the cheese was coated with flour. Added the cheese flour mixture to the boiling (should have been simmering) soup stirring until each batch was melted and mixed in.

Went to the fridge to find the sharp cheddar I just bought. Dropped the big tub of yogurt I just bought onto the floor where it proceeded to open and spray me and everything else in sight with COLD yogurt. Trust me, cold yogurt from knee to toe is not fun. Called the spuds to help clean up the mess while I cleaned up me. Caught the soup just before it burned because no one was stirring it or remembered to turn down the burner while cleaning up the mess. Added some of the finally found sharper cheddar. Probably about 1/2 cup shredded. Stirred it in. Stirred in about 1/2 cup heavy cream. Added pepper. Allowed to simmer while setting table. Sliced bread and ate. A surprising yummy soup for a day better left behind.