Bacon, Leek, Tomato, and Potato Soup

I made this because Kea bought a big bag of potatoes and of all the recipes I have on file, this one calls for the most potatoes. It came out good--the thinly sliced potatoes give it a really nice texture--but there are some things I might change next time.

It was my first time cooking with leeks so I had to look up some information on them. I had no idea if my grocery store even carried them. The recipe said to use three and I had no idea how to count them. Is one stalk one? Or is one leaf one? Well, the internets told me to cut off the roots and the leaves--so basically just use the white stalk. You also need to peel away the outer layers if they are tough--of course I didn't really know what was too tough. It said to wash it well as dirt can get between the layers.
Pros and cons:
+it was sort of fun to break the layers apart--like onions, but new.
-it seemed like so much waste to throw away so much of the vegetable.
+it smelled really good cooking--like Chinese food.
-couldn't really taste it in the final product.
The bottom line: I might just use round onion or scallions next time, especially if I have them lying around.

This recipe called for the carrots and potatoes to be thinly sliced. The carrots went okay; it was kind of fun actually, although I did feel a bit wasteful and so chopped up and threw in anyway the pieces that were too small to be peeled. Slicing the potatoes were a nightmare. I think it would be best if you have the food processor Kea's mom has. It's got a slicing attachment that would be perfect. Kea managed to slice them pretty easily though. I don't know if it was brute strength or less fear of grated fingers. I guess maybe I should've cut them cross-wise rather than length-wise; I couldn't figure out which way "across" meant in the recipe. Maybe that would've made the pieces less slippery or otherwise easier to slice.

We also used regular old Costco bacon rather than "good quality" or whatever the recipe calls for. Of course I guess we are simple and easy to please.

Also, I guess I am slow cuz I swear this took me like two hours to cook!