Let me say the potato and ham soup was fantastic. John and I almost ate the whole crock-pot full last night. There’s a little bit left-over, enough lunch for one of us today. It would have been slightly better if I sliced off the hard skin on the outside edges of the ham. Even though the slow cook process really tenderizes them, the inner pieces of cubed ham without a hard edge were so much better.

For anyone that cares the website is allrecipes.com. I had to increase the ingredient amounts and ignore suggested cooking time. I also waited until the last hour before adding the margarine, flour and milk mixture (sprinkled in some Montreal Steak Spice, the secret ingredient for all my cooking) and I still didn’t fuck it up.


INGREDIENTS
· 3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
· 1/3 cup diced celery
· 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
· 3/4 cup diced cooked ham
· 3 1/4 cups water
· 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
· 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
· 1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
· 5 tablespoons butter
· 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
· 2 cups milk

DIRECTIONS
1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.

2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

Thanks Cherie, your homemade chicken soup that I had for lunch last weekend was so delicious it inspired me to take my crock-pot out for a spin.