Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients

3 bacon strips, diced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp pepper
3c chicken broth
2 large baked potatos, cubed
1c half and half cream
Shredded cheese
fresh parsley, minced

In a medium soup pot, cook bacon until crisp. I usually cook 4 or 5 slices of bacon because I live near a bacon black hole. It starts to disappear as soon as it comes out of the pan. Drain the pan, reserving about a Tablespoon of the bacon drippings. Crumble the bacon and set aside. Saute onion and garlic in the drippings until tender. Stir in flour, salt, basil, and pepper. Mix well. Gradually add broth. Bring to a boil and stir for two minutes. Add the potatoes and cream. You can peel the potatoes if you like, I just scrubbed them before I baked them. Heat through, but do not bring to a boil again. Garnish with bacon, cheese and parsley. Prepare for the marriage proposals that will follow.