The first thing you’ll need to do is get your garlic roasting. Preheat your oven to 400 and place your garlic in a glass baking pan, drizzle them with olive oil and pop them in the oven for about 20 minutes.

While your garlic is roasting you want to cook your bacon until it is nice and crispy and then crumble it into small pieces. A great way to cook all of your bacon at once is to pop it in the oven! Here is a great how-to if you want to try it!

Now peel your potatoes and chop them in bite size pieces.

In a large pot bring your chicken stock, potatoes and bay leaves to a boil, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.

After your soup has simmered you are ready to add your garlic, just chop the tops off of the heads and the roasted garlic should be easy to squeeze out into your soup.

Remove the bay leaves. Mix in your garlic and bacon pieces (reserve some for garnish) mix well and then stir in your cream.

Add salt and pepper to taste and allow to simmer another 5 minutes.

Now you’re ready to eat! Garnish your soup with bacon and chopped chives if desired. Pair this with some delicious bread and you have the perfect dinner for a cold winter day!