Very Creamy Potato-Cheese Soup

If it's not already, January should be "National Comfort Food Month." Or February. This soup is comfort food at its finest; I make this recipe a few times every winter (or fall, if I can't quite wait until winter). The recipe is from one of the Moosewood cookbooks (with a few adapations), I'm not sure which one...it's one of the recipes that I copied from my mom's cookbooks before I moved out on my own after college. I've been making it for a looooong time. The last time I made it, my son originally claimed he didn't like it but then when I was eating the very last bowl, he asked for a bite and then proceeded to eat the rest of it. This weekend, he ate two helpings of it at lunch, so I guess that qualifies it as kid friendly.

3 tablespoons butter
2 cups chopped onion (1 large)
1 large garlic clove, minced or pressed
2 large and 1 medium potato, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, unpeeled and coarsely chopped
3 cups vegetable stock or water (I usually use 3 cups water plus one vegetable bouillon cube)
1 teaspoon dried dill
4 ounces cream cheese
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (3 ounces)
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, saute the onions in the butter until the onions are translucent. Add the potatoes
and carrots and saute for 5 to 10 minutes longer. Add the stock or water and dill and simmer until all the vegetables are tender.
Remove about a half cup of chunks of potato, set aside and chop them up a little bit more.
Add cream cheese and milk and blend with a hand blender. (If you don't have a hand blender, you can do it in a food processor or blender, but it's a huge pain to do it that way...I highly recommend hand blender if you ever make cream soups...) Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cheddar cheese and reheat gently. Add the extra chunks of potato.