Good Food for Cold Weather: Corn Chowder

I don't know about y'all, but I sure like to wear jammie pants all day and eat soup when it's cold outside. Recently this corn chowder did the trick.  The recipe is originally from Family Circle.  I modified it some.

What you need:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 carrots, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 large Idaho potato (I used a few russets instead) cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 cups chicken broth (I used homemade frozen broth)
1 bay leaf
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon paprika
4 cups frozen corn
2 cups milk (I used skim)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons white wine
3/4 teaspoon salt (I skipped this)

What you do:
Heat oil in a skillet.
Add carrots, celery and onion, cook until softened.
Put veggie mixture you just cooked into a crock pot, with the potato cubes and add bay leaf, dried thyme, and paprika.  Cover, and cook on HIGH for an hour and a half, or until potatoes are cooked through.
Then, stir in corn and milk, cover and cook for another hour on HIGH.  Make sure everything is heated through.
Use a potato masher to mash the soup together.
Cook some bacon, chop it up, and top each bowl with bacon and some shredded cheddar (I added that).

MMMM.