Bacon,Potato soup

[Mayebarnes]

my Mom ,,then me have been making a potato soup as a quick .last minute supper forever..

its just sliced potatoes (or cubes).. some bacon slices . lots of chopped onion ,salt, pepper. .. when potatoes are just about done all a little milk..

But the last two times I have made it I have been more inventive...

Potatoes stay the same.. sliced , not too thin. .or cubed. in a pot. just enough water to cover.

Bacon,,, I but the bacon slices on a plate. cover with wax paper and put in microwave until the were JUST starting to crisp.. . took out. cut into 1/2 inch pieces. put in with the potatoes ... add some of the bacon drippings.. for flavor.. ( I probably use more of this than you would... but love the flavor of good bacon)

the Onion... instead of plain old onion.... use a big sweet onion .slice and dice it. put in the pot.it will look like a lot of onion..

salt and pepper..

cook until potatoes are just barely tender....

here is the Tweak..... have some Cream cheese on hand... ... cut off a chunk , depending on how much potatoes you put in the pot ... but for my 5-6 cup I used 1/4 of an 8oz cheese... .... cut it into smaller chunks ... can soften in the microwave . to just put it in the soup... and stir to dissolve and mix in .. don't worry if you see little white pieces floating about... it will eventually blend in. if you need to add more liquid...use milk... turn heat down to LOW once you have the cheese in... put a lid on .. and within 5 min or so. turn heat off.. and let set ... the potatoes will finish cooking in the hot ,greasy broth....

don't know what possess me to add the Cream cheese in the first place but it sure adds to the soup.!..

serve with thick slices of It. bread .. and butter.. to soppy up the excess liquid..

maybe a dish of cole slaw on the side..
or a dish of canned fruit

this is one of those dishes.. you can stretch with more bacon ,more potatoes.. I can see me adding..finely diced celery someday..

[JoGee]

I can see this becoming a great corn chowder, too, just by adding creamed corn to it.
Use the bacon on the top for garnish. Oh, yum!

[determined]

It is strange to me that my Mom never made potato soup since it is so easy and feeds a crowd. I learned about it when my youngest was in Head Start. Learned to make it a bit different than you do, I use ham instead of bacon.

I cube my potatoes into different sizes (so some kind of mash up to make the soup thicker), cube ham and cover with half water and half milk, when bigger chunks of potato are almost tender use the potato peeler to add very thin slices of carrot (just kind of peel it into the pot). When it is done I have some shredded cheese to add on the top when it's in the bowl.

When Mom was so sick with her chemo and we couldn't get her to eat, she told my sister that she thought she could handle potato soup. A friend made some and brought it to her but had used mashed potatoes. Mom said it was good but not what she wanted so sister called me to ask what I needed to make it and Mom wanted me to make it. She actually ate a very big bowl of it.

[Paula A]

Determined, that is a great food memory.
Growing up we had potato soup a lot. My Nana made it, too, so I guess my mom grew up with it. Clam chowder was a step up from potato soup for us.
Way back in the 70's I had a Make a Mix Cookbook. It had an Eastern Corn Chowder which became our all time family favorite. Potato soup thickened with creamed corn and roux.