April Showers Make Me Want to Cook Soup

It's been rainy here in Florida. This fact has several implications.

Best of all it's good for my writing.

Rainy days also make me want to burrow into a comfy chair, drink tea, make homemade soup and of course, write. :)

Because Sela Carsen has such fabulous blog ideas, I'm stealing yet another from her.
She had fabulous recipes on her blog earlier this week for Greek Chicken and Lemony Orzo. Fabulous.

One of my all time favorite things to make on a rainy day is Potato Soup.

Now potato soup for me is an opportunity to be creative.
I rarely make it the same way each time.

Here is the recipe for the soup I made yesterday.

Ingredients list:
Olive oil
Two small yellow onions, diced
Six slices of bacon, cooked and diced
One red pepper, diced
A box of chicken broth (or two cans)
8 med potatoes, cut in to eighths
1/2 cup of milk (I use 2%)
One can of cream of mushroom soup
Fresh ground pepper, (salt optional since the soups add so much sodium)

Directions:

Put a splash of olive oil in a large preheated soup pot (over medium heat) and toss the onions in.
Cook until light brown.
Toss in the bacon pieces and stir.
Toss in the red pepper and stir around with the bacon and onion (OR you can add them when you add the potatoes~ yes, I forgot yesterday. :) )
Put the box (or cans) of chicken stock in the pot.
Carefully place the cut up potatoes in the pot (no more tossing)
If the liquid doesn't cover the potatoes...add enough water to cover.
Bring the potatoes to a boil and turn the heat to med. low.
Cook until the potatoes are tender. (20 minutes or so)
Once the potatoes are tender, I mash half of them still in the pot.
Add the milk and stir.
Add the cream of mushroom soup and stir.
Cook on low for 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve in bowls or mugs with Ritz crackers or bread and butter.
Enjoy.

This version was very bacony (is that a word?) and thick.

In other variations of this recipe I've been known to add celery or carrots in with the potatoes.
I almost always put the juice and peel of one lemon in my potato soup, but I didn't have a lemon and didn't want to go out in the rain to get one. :)
Sometimes I use sausage instead of bacon.
Sometimes I sprinkle with a little fresh chopped parsley before serving.

My husband especially like this version. (probably because of the bacon)
L