Potato Soup – A Christmas Tradition

I love Christmas traditions! We live in a fast-paced society where things are constantly changing and evolving, including traditions.  I remember when I first got married, the Christmas traditions that I knew and loved as a child, changed. While we still enjoyed some traditions with family, my husband and I established our own traditions as we built our life together and had children of our own. Now as our sons leave home, marry and start their families, traditions will again change, be modified, evolve. It’s just a part of life! 

It has been a tradition of my mother for the last 30 plus years to have Christmas Eve dinner in her home. Dinner has been modified from the fancy turkey with all the trimmings to a simpler menu of soups, homemade rolls and cheese logs. Personally, I enjoy this altered menu. To me, soup is a comfort food, Christmas and comfort are synonymous, and not much tastes better on a cold winter night than soup. One of the favored soups served on Christmas Eve is potato soup. My mother’s recipe is easy, requiring few ingredients and certainly fills the belly and warms the heart. I would like to share with you the recipe for our traditional Christmas Eve potato soup.

Potato Soup – 6 servings
Peel about 12 medium size potatoes
Boil in salted water until tender

Cut 1/2 – 1 pound of bacon into bite size pieces and fry until crispy – I love the bacon in my soup!

Drain potatoes and add:1 stick of butter
16 – 18 ounces of Half & Half
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp pepper
Smash the potatoes coarsely, leaving some potato chunks.

Stir until butter is melted.
Drain the fried bacon, add to potatoes and stir.
Add more Half & Half if you like a thinner soup.
Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Top with diced green onions and shredded cheese.
Serve with bread and butter or homemade rolls.

One thing that is nice about this recipe is that it is simple and can be easily doctored to suit your taste and nutritional needs. You can add sautéed vegetables if you like: carrots, celery, onions, leeks. You can add sour cream, cream cheese or yogurt to the cream base for a different texture or flavor. Vary your seasoning adding more or less spice. And the toppings are limited only by your imagination!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and happy holiday traditions!