Today as I logged in to my website one of the prompts that pops up caught my attention – Which food transports you back to your childhood. This got me thinking about comfort food as well, because I think that comes from our childhood as well.

The food that transports me back isn’t really just one food, but a group. I love soup. My mom made soup quite a bit when I was growing up. The funny thing is though, I didn’t really like soup growing up. I liked Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup from a can, but not homemade soup. But, as I have gotten older, I really love soup. My kids and husband aren’t as much of fans of soup, but on a cold day, either in the winter or a rainy day, everyone seems to enjoy it.

Today I thought I would share one of our families favorite soups. I make a big batch of this because my kids love it, so this makes a lot, just so you are aware:

Potato Chowder

1 medium onion, diced

2 Tbsp Oil or Butter

8 large potatoes, cut into about 1 inch cubes – Any kind of white flesh potato except Russets, they will turn to mush.

8 cups Water

2 – 15 oz cans of corn, drained

2 cups Whole Milk (You could do half and half or part cream as well)

1/2 cup Flour

1/2 – 1 tsp dried Thyme, depending on taste (I use 1 tsp)

1 Tbsp dried Basil

Salt and pepper to taste – I would start with about 1 Tbsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper

10 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled or about 2/3 cup crumbled bacon (Cubed ham is also delicious)

In a pot large enough for all the ingredients, melt the butter or add oil and heat. Add the chopped onions and cook until tender and slightly brown. Add the potatoes and water and cook until the potatoes are tender. Add the corn.

In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, flour, thyme, basil, salt and pepper. Add this mixture to the potatoes and corn, mixing thoroughly. Continue cooking until soup thickens. You may need to add more or less flour depending on how thick you like your chowder.

Add the bacon at the end just to warm it. If it sits in the soup the whole time it gets soggy.

The original recipe that I started with came from The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook, 2001-2015 edition. I have modified it to our families liking as well as simplified some of the process so that it is not only easier, but the ingredients are more readily available year round.