Sweet Potato Soup with Buttered Pecans

This was surprisingly tasty given that it was seasoned only with salt, pepper, and a bay leaf. I am a sucker for pureed vegetable soups anyway, and this was very nice in spite of the fact that I skipped the buttered pecans. Adding the pecans, either buttered or candied, would be a nice touch if I was making this soup as a first course for guests. We also skipped the suggested sour cream or creme fraiche and never missed it. Again, with guests, I'd offer one or the other.

Kind of oddly I think, the recipe has very specific instructions for how to cut up the sweet potato and regular potato [next time I'd do all sweet potatoes] the recipe calls for. I ignored these and did about a 1 inch dice on both. After all, they are just going to simmer and then be pureed.

Served with a fresh cranberry & walnut quick bread, also from epicurious.