Soup-a-Palooza...

Potato soup with ham. I added 2 cans of canned cheddar cheese soup to the pot for a cheesy flavor. .

I am not sure what this means, but I have seen all kinds of "a Palooza's" lately. A Scrapbooking-a-Palooza, a Birthday-a-Palooza and others. So, whatever it means, the truth is, I love to make soup when the weather gets cold. It got down to about 40 degrees last night, so today was a soup day. I am going to try to post a different soup recipe weekly for a few weeks, so today is the first day of Soup-a-Palooza at my house.

Baked Potato Soup

Bake at 400 degrees for about an hour, till they are soft when you stick a fork in them:

• 4 Large or 8 small potatoes [wash then prick each with a fork several times before putting it in the oven. I just sit them on the oven rack, but you could put them on a cookie sheet if you want to.] When done, take out of the oven, cut in half, let them cool a bit and scoop out the pulp.

If you want bacon or ham [optional] prepare it as follows.:

• Fry 12 pieces of bacon till crisp and crumble or cut into pieces. Divide in half. Save 1/2 of it for people to sprinkle on top when they eat the soup and put the other 1/2 into the soup.
• For ham, I like to add cooked diced ham or a small canned ham [Dak brand] and just break it up as you add it.

Melt over low heat:

• 1/2 C [1 stick] butter, then add:
• 1/2 C flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper or white pepper or both!
• 1 tsp dry mustard [optional]
• 1 tsp garlic powder and/or onion powder [optional]

When the butter and flour mixture boils add about a quart of milk, skim is fine. Stir until the soup is thick. I usually add some water, up to 2 cups if it seems too thick.

Add the potato pulp and ham or bacon if using.

It is great just like this. But you can do a variety of things with this basic soup. Here are some ideas:

• Add chopped parsley--dry or fresh.
• Add 1 8oz container of sour cream just before serving [non-fat is fine] Don't let the soup boil after adding the sour cream or it might separate.
• Add chopped green onions [2 chopped green onions is plenty or you may want to use some for garnish only.]
• Add 1-2 cans cheddar cheese soup and and equal amount of water
• Have grated cheddar cheese, bacon bits and chopped green onions available for people to add to their soup.

I usually make way too much so I put the left overs in glass quart jars in the fridge. It keeps for at least a week and makes a good snack, lunch or dinner. No matter how great of a restaurant I go to, if I get potato soup, it is never as good as my homemade. As a note, I don't usually add cheese right to the soup because if you do and the soup boils, it can separate. That's why I usually add canned cheddar cheese soup or just have grated cheese on the table for folks to add to their soup after it is in their bowl.

Take care,
Jill