Grandma's Garden Tomato Soup

Tomato soup in the middle of this hot summer may sound a little unnatural- but with fresh tomatoes from the garden and an air-conditioned kitchen, this soup is fantastic! It is definitely not your generic canned soup.. The broth base allows you to throw in huge chunks of tomatoes and all sorts of other great stuff.  This recipe is from my grandma, who has perfected it over the years.. Enjoy!

• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, shredded
• 1 small green pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup butter
• 4+1/2 cup chicken broth
• 4 cups chopped tomatoes, peeled if desired
• 2 tsp sugar, as needed
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Saute celery onion, carrot and green pepper in butter until tender. Add broth, tomatoes, sugar, curry powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

Optional: If you like a thicker soup, save 1/2 cup of the chicken broth. Stir 1/4 cup of flour with the broth in a small bowl. After the soup has cooked for 20 minutes, gradually stir the flour mixture into the soup, bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.