Sausage Potato Soup

All winter I wanted to try making a new soup recipe and I finally got around to it now that it's spring. I tried this recipe I found, minus the secret ingredients because I'm boring like that...maybe next time. There will be a next time too because it was a keeper--we enjoyed it.

Sausage Potato Soup

6 medium potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
1 lb. bulk pork sausage (I used chicken)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup light cream
1/4 cup butter
6 cups chicken stock
freshly ground black pepper
*secret ingredients:
1 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Bring chicken stock to a boil in a large pan. Add potatoes and onions. Cook until potatoes are tender. Meanwhile, brown sausage in a separate pan. Add the cooked sausage to the potatoes and stock. Add the cream and butter. Stir until butter is melted. Add the vanilla and balsamic vinegar right before serving.

*Update: last time I made this I added some frozen spinach (about 1/3 of the box) and it is soo good. Similar to the potato soup from The Olive Garden. Makes it a little more healthy, right? And I didn't have any cream so I used a can of Cream of Chicken soup and it worked fine.