Tillamook Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

2T butter
3T flour
4C milk
1/2 small onion, chopped
1-1/2C grated Tillamook cheese
1-3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp fresh or dried parsley

Melt butter, add flour and when smooth add milk which has been scalded with onion cut in pieces (I do this in the microwave for about 2 minutes before starting the butter/flour on the stove). Stir until mixture boils and add cheese. When ready to serve, add salt, paprika, and parsley.

Cook's Note (Making this a Potato/Cheese/Bacon Soup):

To make the Cheese Soup heartier I follow the recipe above and add 3-4 medium potatoes (cut in small cubes to cook faster) and bacon (I've used real bacon before with some of the drippings for flavor, cooked and chopped, but it tends to sog-out when cooked in the soup so lately I've been using about 1/4C real bacon bits from Costco). I cook the milk/potato mixture on low for about 15-20 minutes, stirring often, until the potatoes at done (not mushy), then add the cheese, bacon, and spices right at the end. I also reduce the amount of salt to 1 tsp when I add bacon (it's too salty otherwise).