Irish Potato and Carrot Soup

So it's been a while since I have posted something on here, but I finally have had some time to try a new recipe.  Not to mention I have needed to use up some of my extra potatoes and carrots from my Bountiful Baskets, and today was the perfect day to do it because we got around a foot of fresh snow this afternoon, and it is still snowing.  (At least it has warmed up from the -15 F that we had for the past several weeks.)

You will need:
2 tbsp oil (I used coconut oil, but you could use olive oil, or another oil)
2 pounds carrots, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
1 bunch of celery, chopped
1/2-1 head of garlic, minced
10 whole cloves
2 pounds potatoes, cubed
4-6 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
zest and juice of 1 lemon
pinch of sugar (I used stevia, and it was good too)
salt and pepper

In a stock pot, or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat, and then add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and cloves, and cook until the onions are translucent.  Add the potatoes, and then pour enough broth to cover the veggies.  Cook for about 25-30 minutes until the carrots are tender.  At this point, fish out the cloves, and then add the ginger, lemon zest and lemon juice.  Now you can either use an immersion blender, or pour batches of the soup into the blender and blend until smooth.  Add your sugar or stevia if you want to save on some carbs and calories.  Then add salt and pepper to taste.  Now curl up and enjoy with some cheese or garlic bread and a nice hot beverage.