Bacon and Mushroom Soup

This recipe was a big hit with the males in our Community Kitchens Group. It has a big meat and potatoes taste and its a bit creamy. Opinions were divided which soup was better, this one or the vegetable soup that we made on the same day. Julia McCartan said she would post this one on the Community Kitchens website. Check out the other recipes on there. The link is on my page.
4 medium red potatoes
2 onions diced
350g fresh mushrooms
8 rashers bacon cooked then diced
3 tablespoons Olive oil
2 cloves garlic
½ tsp chilli powder
2 cups milk
1.5lt water
½ teaspoon sugar
2 Creamy Bacon and Mushroom flavour base
Additional 4 cups water
Cut peeled potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Boil water in a stockpot. Add potatoes, cook until tender. Drain, but save the liquid. Set potatoes aside. Cook bacon in the stockpot, using just a little oil to stop it sticking. Remove it to cool. When cooled, chop the bacon into small pieces.
Finely chop onion. Re-heat oil and bacon drippings in the pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic to the pot. Stir frequently, cook until tender but not brown. Remove the cooked onion and garlic from the pot and set aside. Saute the sliced mushrooms in the pot then return the onions and garlic.
Gradually add cooked potatoes back to the stockpot. Add the flavour base to saucepan then the reserved cooking liquid from the potatoes and the additional water. Add the milk, sugar, chilli powder and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir well. Add bacon. Simmer for thirty minutes over very low heat.
Stir frequently.