Knits ~n~ Purls ~n~ More

I have dinner and dessert all made… well at least in the crock and on the stove  Dinner is cheddar bacon potato soup and rolls, dessert is Dump Cake in the crock.  The soup recipe is below, the dessert recipe will come later (just waiting for it to get done so I can take one more picture to add to add to the post.)

Cheddar bacon potato soup

1 pound bacon, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
5 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
6-7 cups chicken stock *
1 pound shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 pound Velveeta cheese
1 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes

*You can use water and chicken bouillon, if you prefer, in place of chicken stock. I used chicken soup base.

Fry bacon until crisp, remove from pan and drain off all but 3 Tbsp of the excess oil (leave the drippings in the pan, as they "make" the soup yummy!). Add onions and celery, cook until onions are transparent. Add chicken stock, potatoes and spices. Cook potatoes until tender (DON'T drain, as the water is very much needed!). With a potato masher, mash the potatoes a bit (we left some of the potatoes whole). Add potato flakes, a little at a time until thick (not to thick as the cheese will thicken it up too.) Add the cheeses, stir until blended (DON'T boil once you add the cheese, have it on a low temp, as this will cause the cheese to curdle and seperate). Add the bacon, stir and you are done!

~ Jodi ~