Cream of Potato Soup

Soup is a staple in our house for lunch during the winter, every time the batch is empty within a few days I make a new one.  This soup is so delicious! You definitely need Bay Leave spice in case you don't keep it in the house.  By the way if you want to know anything about spices McCormick has a very cool site with a section called Enspicelopedia, everything you every wanted to know about any spice.  Did you know that  Enspicelopedia is a portmanteau word which is a blend of two words or morphemes into one new word!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter or olive oil
2 leek or 1 large spanish onion - chopped 
1/2 pound bacon or ham - in snippets (i use a pair of kitchen scissors)
4 large potatoes cleaned and chopped into small cubes
Knorr Chicken Bouillon - 1 cup
1 whole bay leave, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp thyme
2 1/2 tbsp flour


Heat butter(oil) in large pot and cook the onion and bacon.  Do not brown.  Add to the pot the potatoes, chicken stock and spices.  Cook over low heat till potatoes are tender, about 10 - 15 mins.  Mash with hand masher.  Mix the flour into the milk, with a whisk get rid of any lumps.  Pour milk into soup and heat to thicken. Ready to serve in about 10 minutes.  Try and find the bay leave and remove, it is a bit too pungent to eat. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese on top.