Baked Potato Soup

You all know how much I love soup!! I think that it is the ultimate comfort food. I found this recipe once again on a food blog that I follow, ourbestbites.com. They posted it a couple of days ago and I thought it looked really good. I am sorry I don't post pictures, I don't know how to. I know that sounds really stupid, but I am going to have Dad help me, then I will post some... I promise!! Anyway, this soup is kind of like a chowder it is really rich and full of flavor, but it can be made very light.

Baked Potato Soup

2 TBSP butter
2-3 cloves garlic (I just used one small clove, it added really good flavor, but not too much.)
1/2 C flour
4 1/2 C milk (you could use skim if wanted and would be just fine)
1-14 oz can lower sodium chicken broth
4 medium baking potatoes - baked
2 C grated cheddar cheese, divided (I used the 2% Colby jack shredded cheese, I think that it would be really good to use some pepper jack cheese)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 C light sour cream
1/2 C green onions, chopped (I used dried chives, about a tsp)
8 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled, and divided

Melt butter over medium heat, add garlic cook for a second until fragrant, add flour and cook for a minute to get flour taste out. Slowly add milk, whisk until smooth. This will take a lot of whisking!! I was afraid that it wouldn't ever get smooth, but it finally did. Add chicken broth, bring soup to a simmer and heat until thickened. Stir often so it doesn't scorch.
Turn heat down to medium low. Cut potatoes in half length-wise, use a spoon to scoop them out of their shells. I used a spatula or wooden spoon to break the potatoes up once in the soup, leaving them chunky. Add 1 1/2 C grated cheese, salt and pepper, and stir until the cheese is melted. Remove the pan from the heat stir in 3/4 C sour cream, 1/4 C green onions (or chives), and half of the bacon. You don't want to have the pan on the heat when you add the sour cream, it will easily curdle. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Ladle into bowls and top with remaining cheese, sour cream, onions and bacon.
The soup thickens up a lot. I actually added more chicken broth to make mine to the consistency that I wanted. I also found that the soup was really rich and didn't really need the garnishes, although they are pretty and fun.