Potato Leek Soup

Family is extremely important to me.  I've always had a no-obligation relationship with my mom and brother, his wife, and son. My Mother has always made it clear that we should never feel obligated to spend time with family - -that it should always be because we want to visit, not because we have to visit.  The fact is, I love seeing them and when i don't, I genuinely miss them. You can imagine being two hours from my Mother and an hour and a half away from my only sibling and his beautiful family can be difficult at times.  Yes, the traveling back and forth gets tiresome but what I long for the most is the opportunity to swing by for a quick coffee date on the fly or watch my nephew for an hour while my brother and his wife do errands. I understand that there are many people out there that live in different provinces or countries then their immediate family and I truly don't know how they do it.  Living that far away from family just isn't an option for me.

Unlike my petite family, my husbands side is enormous and he is lucky to have his entire immediate family and about 90% of his extended family close by. It's very comforting.  A week ago my husbands Grandmother had a hip replacement done (OUCH!!).  His extended family has been working together caring for her by providing meals, entertainment and comfort nearly every hour of the day.  Last night we were there for a visit and brought dinner. It was very nice to spend time with her.  Since the family is so large there isn't much time to spend one-on-one time with anyone during family get togethers (there are usually 45+ people in attendance).  It's more like a speed dating scenario - Hi, how are you? Good. Nice to see you. Good bye. On.to.the.next. This little visit felt so much more intimate then usual. It made me miss my Nana very much. Due to the medication she is taking her appetite is nil. I decided to make a smooth, warm potato leek soup. SUCCESS! She ate an entire bowl and requested I leave the leftovers for her. This soup doesn't have an enormous amount of flavour to it but you could add toppings like bacon crumbs, grated cheese or sour cream to it to make it more filling and flavourful. Can't go wrong with soup! Check out my other soups (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here) Wowza - I like me some soup, eh? 11 soup recipes too many?...

Yield: About 10-12 servings

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 large leeks*, washed & sliced (don't use the dark green tops!)
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery stocks, sliced
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
4 large yellow potatoes, peeled and cubed
6 cups chicken stock

*Leeks are grown in very sandy soil.  Be sure to wash thoroughly.  I wash before I slice, then again in a strainer after I've sliced them.

Method
In a large pot over medium heat warm olive oil.  Add leeks, carrots, celery, thyme, salt and pepper.  Saute for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.  Transfer in batches to the food processor and puree on high until smooth.  Serve and top with bacon crumbs, sour cream or grated cheddar cheese.