Melt the butter in a 6 quart dutch oven. If you have mirepoix available, substitute two cups for the onions, garlic, celery and carrot.

Saute the onions and garlic

Add the carrots and celery and lower the heat to low. Add a little salt and pepper and the bay leaves.

Sweat all the vegetables for a good 10 - 15 minutes or more (longer is better, just be careful they don’t dry out and keep the heat low)

Brown the hamburger in a medium sized skillet while the vegetables are cooking. Drain off the fat and add to the veggies in the dutch oven.

Add the potatoes, a little more salt and pepper, and cover the whole kit and caboodle with chicken broth. Add more water if needed. Turn up the heat to medium.

Let the soup come to a bubble. Give it a stir every once in awhile.

When the potatoes are cooked through, add the half and half. The time it takes to cook the potatoes depends on how large you cut the pieces, start checking at 10 minutes. Taste to adjust the salt and pepper again. Remove the bay leaves before serving.