Homegrown Tomato Soup

Ingredients

• 12-15 medium large tomatoes
• 2 white onions
• 6-8 stalks celery, diced
• 1 1/4 cups beef stock or bouillon
• 1/2 tsp. onion salt
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
• salt and pepper
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 4-5 slices of bacon, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 6 Tbsp. butter
• 6 Tbsp. flour
• dash of sugar and paprika

Directions

Peel tomatoes by dropping into boiling water until skins crack (about 1 minutes). Slice onions; put tomatoes, onions, and celery in big pot. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add bouillon, salts, pepper, bay leaves, oregano and bacon and cook slowly, covered, for several hours. Midway through cooking, mash everything well with a potato masher. When ready to serve, strain soup, discarding pulp. Melt butter, add flour. Add to soup and bring to a boil to thicken. Add dash of sugar and paprika to soup while it is thickening.