CREAMY Baked Potato Soup!

This baked potato soup is so incredibly creamy and thick yet uses no cream at all! This creamy potato soup is topped with your favourite baked potato toppings like crispy bacon, chives, sour cream and shredded cheese to create a delicious winter friendly soup. If you're a fan of mashed potato, creamy soups and rich dishes then this soup is for you!

We're getting to the tail-end of winter and I don't know about you Dear Reader but I've had so much rich (albeit delicious) food that it's starting to feel like it's time to lighten things up. And that's where this baked potato soup comes in handy. The creamy texture comes from making a roux base and then the potatoes add a creaminess (think skordalia) as well as some evaporated milk and milk. It is so wonderfully thick and creamy that when Mr NQN was eating it he actually said that he couldn't believe that it didn't have cream in it!

This dish is pure comfort food in the best possible way. Sometimes you want something easy, tasty and good for you. It's like a hug in a bowl. Other things that are like a hug are dogs. We've been absolutely loving our new addition Milo and his personality has really started to come out even in the space of a week. Dogs, like humans all have their own personalities and while Teddy hates car rides Milo absolutely loves them. In fact he loves sitting up in the centre console and looking out while we drive (he is still seatbelted in). It's the cutest thing ever and then sometimes he will put it his paw on our arms or rest his head on our elbows.

A few of you have asked about him and how he came to adopt him. The story behind Milo is that he came from a breeder in Dubbo who breeds pure toy poodles. They had three of them left that were 6 months old but after they suffered a personal tragedy were unable to invest the time in training the three dogs. They gave the three dogs to a rescue organisation called Claws and Paws on the Central Coast. I thought I'd share a bit about how the adoption process because a few people have asked me about it including friends that want to adopt but haven't had any luck. We have been very lucky to adopt two toy poodles (I have allergies which rules out some breeds).

Mr NQN went onto Pet Rescue and set up to be notified when there were new dogs (you can tell them the type of animal you want to adopt and the size and they will send out emails when an animal that meets your criteria comes up). We end up getting around 3-6 emails a day - we have it set for small dogs but if you set it to larger dogs I'm guessing that you'll get a lot more emails. Each dog email comes with basic info like their age, breed and the rescue organisation as well as information pertaining to each dog, their needs and personality as well as any prerequisites (no kids, no cats etc). You will either text or call the contact person or fill in a form online.

Before we adopted Teddy we were rejected so many times I lost count and this was even before COVID. However Ivy works at a Dachshund rescue and told me what to do when applying which was very helpful.

Some tips for communicating with a rescue organisation:

Be patient: wait for the right dog for you. If they say that there are certain conditions, those are non negotiable unless they say otherwise. Milo's ad said that he would only be adopted to people with another dog and they were very clear on that. Yet a lot of people applied for him without having another dog. It takes resources from the rescue organisation person to reply to all of these queries.

Be thankful: Rather than starting the intro email about yourself, begin with thanking the rescue organisation for what they do because they play such a crucial role in rehoming animals. Rescuing animals takes a lot of emotional labour so when rescue organisations get treated with politeness they respond in kind. Rescuing is tough and sometimes they get abusive messages.

Understand the price: Some people might query the price for an adopted dog. Milo and Teddy were each $1,500 but understand that paying a higher adoption fee for puppies funds the vet work on the senior dogs who are less likely to be adopted out. Whenever we've told the rescue organisation that we understand the pricing you can literally see the relief on their face and body.

Good rescue organisations will always take dogs back if for any reason they are not a match. Please do not put your dog or cat in the pound system. Euthanization rates are much higher at the pound.

Hopefully this helps with your journey to adopt a pet! :)

So tell me Dear Reader, do you like the sound of this soup? Have you ever adopted a rescue? If you have any other questions please ask!

Baked Potato Soup

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Serves: 6

• 200g/7ozs streaky bacon rashers

• 1 large white or yellow onion, peeled and diced

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
• 2.5 tablespoons plain all purpose flour
• 55g/2ozs. butter
• 1kg/2.2lbs potatoes, peeled and diced
• 340ml/12flozs tin evaporated milk
• 360ml/13flozs. full cream milk
• 3 cups/750ml/1.6pints chicken stock
• Grated cheese, sour cream and chives to serve

Step 1 - First fry the bacon in a large pot in batches until crispy. Drain on paper towels and set aside. In the same pan sauté the onion on medium heat until soft and translucent for around 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Then add the butter and melt. Add the flour and stir to combine and saute for a minute. Add the potatoes, evaporated milk, milk and stock and place the lid on and allow the potatoes to soften (around 20 minutes).

Step 2 -Take the pot off the heat and take an immersion blender and blend the soup up until creamy. Test for seasoning adding salt and pepper to taste. Cut the bacon up into small pieces (you may need to heat it up again a little). Serve on top of the soup along with the cheese, sour cream and chives.