Chicken Chowder with Barley

½ cup rolled barley

2 cups water

½ lb. diced, well cooked bacon

Remaining bacon drippings

1 cup butter

1 lg. diced onion

2 lb. diced mushrooms

1 cup all purpose flour

2 cups milk

8 oz. cream cheese, chunked

1 lb. Velveeta cheese, chunked

3 lbs. cooked diced potatoes

2 ½ cups diced cooked chicken

2 cans Green Giant niblet style corn

2 T. chopped garlic

1 to 2 cups whipping cream

2 tsps. Salt

1 ½ tsp. Pepper

1 to 2 tsps. Cajun Seasoning Mix

Soak rolled barley overnight in water.  Cook to cereal.  Set aside.  Cook Chicken in whatever fashion that suits you.  Skin chicken if needed, dice, and cool.  Set aside.  Clean, dice, and cook potatoes leaving them a little hard, about 5 minutes.  Set aside.  In a large skillet, fry bacon until crispy.  Set aside to cool and drain on paper towels.  Meanwhile add butter to skillet.  When melted add diced onion.  Cook until translucent.  Add diced mushrooms and garlic; Sauté for 3 or 4 minutes.  Shut off heat source.  Remove onions, garlic, and mushrooms, add to potato pan, leaving bacon and butter drippings in skillet.  To the drippings in skillet add up to one cup of flour.  Mix well with a fork until very thick.  Add a little milk and continue until at least one cup of milk is mixed in.  Turn medium heat back on and continue adding milk, creating a roux.  When you have a nice gravy add the cream cheese and the Velveeta.   When melted, pour into a large thick bottomed stock pot or 7 qt. crock pot; as this makes a lot of soup.  Add previously cooked barley, chicken, potatoes, mushrooms, onion, garlic, bacon, and cans of corn.  Add pint of cream.  If this needs more liquid, add more milk.  Add salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning.  Adjust to taste.  Bring up temperature slowly, stirring frequently.  Do not boil or it will curdle or scorch.