Warm weather food spotlight: Loaded Baked Potato Soup

An excellent soup for the chilly days & nights ahead - loaded baked potato soup.  I really, really  love loaded baked potato soup.  So, I decided to make my own - instead of trekking out to my nearest Rafferty's (some of the best LBP soup around).

I feel pretty comfortable saying that I think that I am giving my favorite Rafferty's soup a run for its money - so to speak (I realize that soup doesn't run.  Well, okay, unless it's been spilled... I digress...).

As usual, I found a recipe with the basic ingredients that I knew that I wanted, and then modified it to taste.

Here's the link to the original version of the recipe:  http://www.potatosouprecipe.com/Recipes/BakedPotatoSoup.htm

My version of Loaded Baked Potato Soup has these slight modifications (note: please refer to the link above for the full recipe, this list is only a list of substitutions or changes):

• 6 small to medium sized potatoes (I used what I already had in the kitchen)

• 1 tbsp salt.  Note:  the bacon & cheese provide a salted flavor anyway, so you may want to skip the salt.  I like salt :)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 15 slices of pre-cooked bacon (just crumble and throw in)

The consistency will be very thick, once the ingredients have cooked down.

~Bon Appetit