Loaded Potato Soup

I absolutely love this soup. There's nothing like a warm soup after a long cold day and this stuff is practically addictive. I've modified my recipe quite a bit over the years since I first started making it, so this is the most up to date version. We actually had it for dinner last night and I'll be eating leftovers for lunch today. To see my first two versions, check out my old site here.

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For this recipe you'll need:
3 T butter
2 stalks celery, diced
1or 2 medium carrots, diced
1 medium onion, diced
4 C chicken broth or stock
1 1/2 C milk
32 oz frozen diced potatoes (did you know you can make your own?)
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 C bacon pieces + extra to garnish
1/4 C chives, thinly sliced + extra to garnish
sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, to garnish

 Place butter, carrots, celery, and onion in slow cooker on high heat and allow butter to melt and veggies to soften (about 30 minutes). Then add broth, milk, and potatoes and reduce heat to low. -If you don't have time to wait for butter to melt, either saute everything on the stove first or just add all ingredients and cook on low.

Anywhere from 5-10 hours later (at 5 hours the veggies will be a tad al dente and at 10 the potatoes will be falling apart- I prefer the consistency of everything at 8 hours) add the softened cream cheese and allow to set 10-15 minutes before stirring in. The higher quality the cream cheese the better it will melt and become part of the soup.
Stir in 1/2 C bacon pieces and 1/4 C chives just before serving.
Serve garnished with cheese, bacon, and more chives.

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Do you have any recipes that have evolved over the years?