Bacon and Potato Crab Soup, as per request

You know I usually cook for quite a few; today it was for seven. Here's how it went, guys.

Stock up on potatoes. I mean, like a bag of them. Yer choice. I used Idaho, 'cause that's what Costco had.
Stock up on Bacon. I used about 10 slices. Don't cheap out. It was really tasty using this seriously fatty, apple wood-smoked stuff (least, I think that's what it was. They were thick, though. Thin stuff would be okay, but not quite as good.)
Get some shallots (2).
Get a bunch of crab meat. I used 16 ounces.

Put about 1/3 stick of butter into your soup pot (I did that PLUS olive oil, to keep the shallots from burning, but in hind sight I likely wouldn't repeat that; it separates when you add a liquid-fat), chop up a ton of the shallot into chunks (minced, ish. I didn't put too much effort into making them super tiny or anything). Grind some black pepper onto it. Let them sizzle for a while.
Add three of those cartons of chicken stock in there. (96 ounces) Let it boil. Add a few bay leaves, some shakes of dill, marjoram, lemon peel in there.
Dump about 3-4 breakfast bowls (7-10?) Idaho potatoes. Let them cook for a while.
Add the crab. Let it cook for a few moments (enough to get the bacon, open the bacon.. get a handful of it, then remember you need to find your shears.. so you put the bacon down, wash yer hands, search for shears..You know, the usual.)
Put bite sized chunks (remember that cooked bacon shrinks) of bacon in there.
Add as much heavy cream as your comfortable with. None? Add milk. Remember, potato soup is typically creamy, so suck it up. I mean, it's bacon based soup. Cream won't really make it much better or worse health-wise.

Remember, since it's boiling, the bacon will cook pretty quickly. It'll lose its flavor if you let it sit for too long, so don't dawdle at this point. Until now, there's no rush (pre potato, I took a shower).

Get a bowl. Add a bunch of corn starch, and cold water, and stir with a fork until there's no more clumps. Continue this process until it gets to the point of thickness you desire.
Top with shredded mozzarella and eat. =) The boys LOVED it.