A Wonderful cold-weather soup!

I was answering questions over on my best friend's blog http://chroniclesofnani.blogspot.com/ She got her questions from Heather over at http://www.actingbalanced.com/ .  One of her questions that she asked was regarding soups, seasonal? or Year-round?   So I am posting one of my favorite soup recipes!

Chunky Potato Soup

3 med. sized red potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 C. water

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 T. butter

3 T. all-purpose flour

3 C. milk

1/2 t. sugar

1 C. shredded Cheddar cheese

1 C. cubed cooked ham

3-4 slices of bacon, cooked well done, not burnt, and crumbled

Crushed red pepper flakes

Ground black pepper

Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan.  Add potatoes and cook until tender.  Drain, BUT

save the liquid.  Set the potatoes aside.  Measure 1 C. of the potato liquid and set aside.

Brown the bacon till well cooked.  Drain on paper towels, reserving approx 2 T. of bacon fat.  Melt butter in same saucepan over med. heat. Add onion, cook stirring frequently until onion is translucent and tender, but not brown.  Add flour to same saucepan, season with pepper flakes and pepper to taste.  Cook 3-4 min.  Gradually add potatoes, the reserved potato liquid, milk, sugar, crumbled bacon to the onion mixture and stir well.  Add cheese and ham.  Simmer over low heat for 30 min. stirring frequently.  

A nice warm loaf of crusty French or Italian bread goes beautifully with this soup! 

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Much love, Kelly xoxo