Creamy Celery Bacon Soup

This weeks Bountiful Baskets had great stalks of celery. Since I don't like Mangos, I traded my mangos for someone's celery. Of course, I hate anything going to waste so I am trying new things.  This is what I came up with.

3 strips of bacon

¼ cup onions - diced
¼ cup bell pepper – diced
3 cups sliced celery
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk or half & half
3 Tbsp flour
¼ milk
Add to taste – salt, pepper, granulated garlic, celery seed, sage

1.  Put chicken broth on to boil while cooking bacon until crisp.   When broth comes to a boil, turn     

     heat to simmer.  When bacon is crisp, remove from skillet unto a paper towel.

2. To skillet, add onion and bell pepper and saute for about one minute, then add celery. Continue
     to saute for  another 3 minutes.
3. Pour all contents of skillet and bacon (crumbled) into simmering broth (to reduce fat, drain off
     bacon grease before adding to broth). 
4. Turn up heat to medium high and add milk/half&half and seasonings.  Because some brands of
     bacon is saltier than others, be sure to taste before and after adding spices until you get the taste
     you desire. 
5. In a small bowl stir together flour and ¼ cup of milk until smooth. Add to soup and stir.  Bring to
    almost a boil and remove from heat.
6. You can garnish with a sprinkle of cheese, homemade sour dough croutons, and bacon bits.

Please note that with all my recipes, amounts are adjustable. Such as; more flours makes the soup thick, while less makes it thinner; more broth less milk makes it soupier, while less broth more milk makes it creamier; more celery makes it more chunkier; ham instead of bacon, red bell peppers instead of green bell peppers and so on. Have fun and make it your own!

This is a quick and easy soup and I was surprised that I was able to please everyone! My youngest son is super picky about having to eat veggies.  I prepared his bowl by straining out all the chunky parts and topped it off with a bit of cheese and a few sourdough croutons. He loved it and actually wanted more!  Wow, this is a soup I will make more often.
Serves 4