Bacon Beer Cheese Soup

Scott and I are still searching for that perfect beer cheese soup. We fell in love with a few restaurants' soups in Eau Claire during college, but haven't been able to find a suitable replacement. This one was pretty delicious, but not quite THE one. We'll keep trying :)

Bacon Beer Cheese Soup-adapted from Smells Like Home
Total Time: 45 Minutes
Serves 4

• 3 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup carrot, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1-1/4 cup chicken broth
• 6 ounces pale ale or beer
• 1/2 cup milk
• 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
• Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Cook the bacon in a large sauce pan over medium high heat until crispy. Scoop out bacon pieces with a slotted spoon and place on a paper-towel lined plate. Turn the heat down to medium and add the carrot, celery, garlic, salt and pepper and saute for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables begin to soften.

Whisk the flour into the vegetables and stir for one minute. Whisk in chicken broth and continue to stir until no lumps of flour remain. Blend the mixture with an immersion blender or carefully transfer into a blender. Blend until smooth and return to saucepan.

Pour the beer into the mixture, bring to a simmer, stirring as needed. Allow to cook down for 10 minutes, then stir in milk and allow to warm, stirring for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the cheese by the handful, letting each batch melt completely before adding more. Garnish with bacon before serving.

Bacon and Caramelized Onion Dip

Onion dip is one of those sinful, prepackaged dips that I just can't say no to. If you have some good ruffled potato chips with it, it is just all I want to eat all night. When I came across this recipe, I knew I had to make it. Being able to make my own onion dip? And on top of it, adding BACON to it...who in the world can say no to that? Not this girl.

Side note, if you didn't know, bacon is pretty much one of my favorite things of all time. I'm technically watching what I eat, but by no means am I going to cut bacon out of my life. Just imagine how sad that would be. No bacon....I don't want to think about it!

Anyway, back to the recipe. I made this for a family holiday gathering, and then had a second request to make this for a Friendsmas we had later in the month. And since I'm so behind on posting, I can write about them both in just one post, instead of a post and an update.

This is super easy, and you just play with the extra seasoning to get it to taste just like you want it. I'd recommend making this about 30 minutes before you want to serve it as I thought it got better the longer it would sit and the flavors were able to meld.

I also used the homemade brown sugar recipe I told you about yesterday for the onions. And to be completely honest, I got lazy and didn't mix the sugar and molasses beforehand. Just threw it all into the skillet. Works fantastic-I love a shortcut :)

For the bacon, I prefer to chop it into pieces before cooking-it just seems to make better chunks. If you prefer to cook it in sliced first, certainly go right ahead. I won't judge.

PS do you like my cute little snowman dish?

Bacon and Caramelized Onion Dips-adapted from Smells Like Home
Total Time: 20 Minutes
Makes 2 cups

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, sliced or diced
• 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 6 slices bacon, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 16 ounces sour cream
• Seasoned salt, seasoned pepper, cayenne pepper and garlic salt to taste-I used about 1/4 teaspoon cayenne and a couple good shakes of the additional seasonings, but it's really what YOU are looking for that counts, ya know?
• Ruffled potato chips for serving

In a large skillet, melt butter and oil over high heat. Add in onions, brown sugar and water. Cook until onions are soft and a dark brown, caramely color. If they start to brown too quickly, turn down the heat. This should take somewhere between 5-10 minutes.

In a separate skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Drain the grease and put the bacon on a plate lined with paper towel to drain off more of the grease.

In a small bowl, mix onions, bacon, cider vinegar, sour cream and seasonings together until well blended and a nice brown color. Add in additional seasoning as needed-you know you'll be tasting as you go! Serve with ruffles.