Birthdays, Blogs and Bacon

What do birthdays, blogs and bacon have in common?   Not much beyond the fact that I love all three and that it is a lame attempt at having a catchy post header.  Let me see if I can string the three together.  Last week I was recovering from a wild weekend/start of the week celebrating this wild man's second birthday.

Yes, that is a Peter Pan collar.  Yes, he was wearing shorts.  It was an unusually warm day.  Neither of the aforementioned articles of clothing will be worn again during the month of February and, if Patrick has anything to do with it, the former will never be seen again.

We had a big time.  Family came to town.  We borrowed a bounce house.  Jude was given a play horse that takes up our entire family room.  Happy Birthday was sung over a police mega phone.  Muffins and smoothies and some cupcakes were consumed by Jude and friends.  Suffice it to say by the time Jude's actual birthday rolled around, I was wiped out.  I had worked it out with Jenny beforehand to switch our Tuesday night swap to Thursday.  I was feeling low on motivation about what to cook for my family and share with hers until I stumbled upon a blog boasting about a baked potato soup.  Please welcome the third part of this post's alliteration...bacon.  

Bacon, chives, sour cream and cheddar cheese debut as toppings for the soup.

I love bacon.  I am not a huge meat eater, but I make an exception for bacon.  It smells so dang good, but it is the crunch and the saltiness that gets me every time.  Recently, I have been drizzling maple syrup on the bacon for the last few minutes it cooks in the oven and it really puts me over the edge.  Embarrassingly, we cook and eat an entire pound of bacon at one sitting around here.  No problem.  I think I chose to make the Baked Potato Soup from Smitten Kitchen simply because bacon was a natural choice when thinking of toppings.  We really loved this soup (birthday boy included).  It was hearty and the garlic and leeks gave it a really nice flavor.  Even if you don't swoon for swine and choose to omit bacon (it is only a topping), this soup is pretty awesome.  It was easy to make and easy to share.  The only word of advice I can offer is to not over-puree the soup.  My immersion tool is broken and I used the Cuisinart and I pulsed it one too many times.  Next time I make this, I will leave it a bit more chunky.

Baked Potato Soup - from Smitten Kitchen Blog

*As I am new to blogging, I am not sure how to go about giving Smitten Kitchen credit.  Below is a copy and pasted version of the ingredient list and how-to, but please visit her beautiful and thoughtful blog for photo inspiration and the full story on this soup*

1 head garlic
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium leeks, white and light green parts halved lengthwise, washed, and chopped small
5 to 6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
Table salt
2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 cup sour cream
Ground black pepper

Rinse the head of garlic to remove any outside grit or dirt. Cut the top third off the head and peel any loose papery skins off the bottom two-thirds. Pop out a bunch (or all) of the garlic clove tips and mince them.
In a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add leeks and cook them until soft (but not brown), about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook another minute. Add the larger part of the garlic head (whole, not chopped), broth, bay leaves and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat and simmer until garlic is very tender when pierced with tip of knife, 30 to 40 minutes. Add potatoes and continue to simmer, partially covered, until potatoes are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Discard bay leaves. Remove garlic heads.
Add sour cream to soup and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Adjust seasonings, adding more salt and pepper to taste. Using immersion blender, process soup until chunky-creamy, leaving lots of potato texture intact.

Of course, bacon showed up as a topping to this delicious soup.  Also worth mentioning are chives, sour cream and cheese.

We packed up the soup and toppings, donned jackets (short-wearing weather a distant memory) and took this birthday boy on a stroll for our Thursday Night Swap.