I have found that rare treasure, a place to stay that is like home. The kind where if you showed up and nobody was home, you could let yourself in and find a bedroom that looked like the one they'd offered you over the phone and just go to sleep.

When I got here, they WERE home, and this soup was just about ready to eat:

O'Charley's Loaded Potato Soup

1 gallon water
2 1/2 pounds white or red potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (she doubles this)
1 tbsp chicken base
1 tbsp white pepper (she never uses this because she forgets to buy it)
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper (she only does this much because she feeds kids and they are wimps)
2 (11 oz) cans cheddar cheese soup/sauce Or make one of them the broccoli cheese soup
1 pound butter (in a feeble attempt to lower the fat she uses only 3 sticks)
3/4 - 1 1/2 cups flour
2 cups half and half (or 1 cup half and half and 1 cup 1% milk)
Toppings: crumbled bacon, parsley, chives
1 pound Kielbasa or other sausage

Cook the peeled and diced potatoes in boiling water with chicken base and white and black pepper, and salt. Cook about 12 minutes until about 1/2 cooked. Add cheddar sauce and simmer 10 minutes. In a sauce pan, melt the butter. Add flour to form a roux. Cook 3- 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Add half and half. Do Not Boil. Pour into bowls and garnish as desired.

This really hit the spot for me, the first real food I've had in many days. I could hardly believe my eyes when she put a pound of butter into a pan and measured in a bunch of flour, but the result was excellent.

We had some soup, and halfway through she remembered the half-and-half, so we had to have a little bit more to see if that improved it, and it did.

Then, they all went trooping off somewhere and left me to take a nap and watch the Broncos game, and maybe some more of that soup. And there are friendly cats.