Creamy Potato Soup

I have tried many different Potato soup recipes from Recipezaar, but none were exactly what I was looking for. My mom used to make an amazing potato soup, but I could never duplicate her recipe. She's one of those "use a pinch of this and a dash of that", (not exact a recipe if you know what I mean, all of our pinches are different...LOL) All I knew is that she used Potatoes, Cream, onions and bay leaves....Once the soup is cooked and the veggies are tender I use an immersion blender to puree the soup to make it nice and creamy. (I use a Braun hand held mixer)..

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Serves: 10

Ingredients

• 10  large baking potatoes, diced
• 2 (32 ounce) containers low sodium chicken broth
• 2  bay leaves
• 6  slices smoked bacon, Thick style
• 1  stalk celery, diced
• 1  large  vidalia onion, diced
• 2  carrots, diced
• 2  tablespoons butter
• 1  pint heavy whipping cream
• 1  tablespoon dried chives
• 1  cup colby-monterey jack cheese, shredded
• 1⁄2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Add Chicken broth, Potatoes and Bay leaves to stock pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover pot and let simmer for 20 minutes. Stirring every now and then.
2. While Potatoes are cooking, fry bacon in pan until crispy, then lay on paper towel to drain. Once drained, break into tiny pieces and put on side till needed.
3. After bacon is cooked, leave drippings in pan and add butter, Onion, celery and carrots. Saute until the onions are translucent.
4. Add to the pot with potatoes and simmer again for another 20 minutes or so. (You want to cook them until they are practically falling apart as you mix them).
5. Whisk in cream and cook for 5 minutes more. If you don't have a whisk, use a cooking spoon but make sure you stir briskly pouring in the cream, so it doesn't curdle.
6. Take immersion blender and blend soup till it's pureed and creamy.
7. Add Cheeses, bacon and chives. Stir till incorporated and cook for another 5 more minutes.
8. Serve.