really yum potato soup

My recipe book reads kind of like a journal. Or a lab report.  There'll be an original recipe then there are my notes and slashings through (and also dried, caked on splatters.) This is sometimes because I need math reminders when I half a veg recipe Bu won't eat. Usually there are substitutions for cheaper, less exotic spices:) And occasionally I just want to feel adventurous and can't bear to follow a recipe perfectly.

I have perfected a Potato Soup Experiment. Let me show you. The original recipe is here, for reference. My version is this:

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  5 small potatoes, peeled & diced
  
  


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  some margarine, butter, vegan stuff
  
  


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  1 medium white onion, chopped
  
  


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  2 cups veggie broth
  
  


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  garlic powder and minced garlic (b/c I dumped the powder in, then found the minced stuff. Use as you will. Lots is good.)
  
  


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  chives- a whole buncha
  
  


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  2 cups of milk mixed with 2 tbs all-purpose flour
  
  


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  1 cup instant mashed potatoes. (always a staple for teh Birdy, seemed easier than blending*.)
  
  

In a 2 quart saucepan, cook the onions in some butter until soft.
Add the potatoes and the broth. Simmer on medium until reduced by half-ish and potatoes are soft.
Stir in the milk/flour stuff. Add spices and simmer a bit.
Stir or whisk in the instant potatoes. Salt & pepper to taste. Yum.

*The original version tells you to puree half of the soup then add back in. This is how I make my black bean soup thick. I saw a groovy tip on TV: if you're blending hot stuff, take the middle part of the lid off of your blender and put a rag over it. Then the heat won't explode your stuff.