“The greatest gift you will ever receive is the gift of loving and believing in yourself. Guard this gift with your life. It is the only thing that will ever truly be yours.” ~ Tiffany Loren Rowe
NOTE: I spend my Wednesdays Unplugged from appointments. It’s my day to stay home, enjoy cooking and welcome our kids and grandkids for dinner in the evening. We end our meal with quotes from the Norwegian ‘Quote Cup’ passed on to me from my grandmother. I share a quote and a recipe here each week, along with an update and photos of what has been going on in our lives. I love trying new recipes…and love getting recipes you would like to share!
I looked up from my desk one morning this week to see a deer calmly munching his breakfast near our patio… a reminder of how close we live to nature. AND… we finally got to use our tickets to the Open Eye Theatre for “How to Avoid Burnout in 73 Minutes” which we purchased February 8, 2020! It was a 2-man musical written and performed by my oncologist, with a friend from church acting as his inner voice. They extended the run and it is totally sold out!
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
This was a soup week, which included the family favorite ‘cider stew’ and baked potato soup. I am sharing the recipe for baked potato soup, which it appears I haven’t shared since 2012. It really is good!
BAKED POTATO SOUP
- 4 large baking potatoes
- 5 slices bacon, plus more for garnish
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 cups milk
- 2 teaspoons coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) grated cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 cup sour cream
- Sliced green onions for garnish
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Scrub potatoes, prick several times with a fork and bake 1 1/2 to 2 hours until soft. Remove from oven and let cool. When cool, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out potato pulp, set aside. Discard skins.
Cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon, crumble and set aside. Add butter to pan with bacon drippings, melt. Add onion and saute approximately 4 to 5 minutes until soft. Stir in flour until well combined, cook for several minutes but do not let it brown. Gradually add milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Pour into crock pot and add potato pulp, salt, pepper, crumbled bacon, and 1 cup grated cheese. Stir in sour cream. Warm in crock pot a couple hours or more at low heat until ready to serve. Add extra milk if necessary for desired thickness.
Serve in individual soup bowls garnished with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese, additional crumbled bacon and sliced green onions.