UPDATE: Found some of the photos. Yay!
My Grandma's potato soup is my ultimate comfort food. Each bowl comes with a flood of memories from my childhood, along with years of family history. Her recipe was passed from her mother (my Great Grandmother Martha), and my Grandma June made it for my brother and I often as children. Her sister Jeanette (one of the most special people I ever had the pleasure of knowing) also made the soup for us. I remember one time as a child visiting Aunt Jeanette and Uncle Carl, she made the soup with ham instead of the bacon my grandma liked to use, and I told her it was pretty good even though it didn't have any meat in it.
As I grew up, potato soup marked many occasions. Grandma always made it when I was home sick, or for an especially cold day, or when she just wanted to cheer us up. I cherish the memories I have watching Grandpa peel potatoes, and standing next to Grandma while she fried the bacon and onions (always hoping she would let me try a nibble!).
Before I left for college, I spent an afternoon in her kitchen really learning how to do it. I took my new-found knowledge to my brother's apartment and we made something that looked like Grandma's soup but tasted like potatoes in milk. Through the next several years and several conversations with Grandma, I've worked out a recipe that is pretty close to the one I grew up with (even though it will never be as good as hers).
Getting the veggies ready to go:
When I smell onion and bacon, I know it's time for potato soup!
The finished product! Note: the parsley floats on the top, so it looks like there is a ton of it. Also please excuse the pasta jar full of bacon grease. I live in the south now.
Potato Soup
4-6 slices of bacon-chopped (use a good quality thick-cut bacon)
1 medium onion-chopped
1 c chopped celery (I usually just use a couple of stalks)
8 medium potatoes-diced into approx 1/2 inch pieces
2-3 carrots, sliced
2T flour
Milk
Garlic Powder
Parsley Flakes
Seasoned Pepper
Salt to taste (it takes a good amount so don't be shy)
Saute bacon until crisp. Add onion and saute until golden. Drain grease and set aside. Put potatoes, carrots and celery into soup kettle with enough salted water to barely cover. Boil until vegetables are soft.
Meanwhile make a white sauce of 2T flour and 1 1/2 C. milk. Add to hot vegetables and bring to a good boil. After a couple of minutes, add enough milk to make amount of servings desired (but at this point be sure to turn down the heat a bit, because you don't really want the soup to boil anymore, you just want to heat it through). Add garlic powder, parsley flakes, seasoned pepper, and salt to taste. You can also add just a bit of butter to each bowl if your inner Paula Deen is shining through.
