Pop's Creamy Tomato Soup

4 tablespoons buttter

1 spanish onion (finely chopped)

2 carrots chopped

2 celery stalks chopped

4 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

5 tablespoons flour

4 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes

1 tablespoons dry parsley

1 tablespoon dry thyme

1 bay leaf

1 cup light cream

salt and pepper to taste

1-2 tablespoons sour cream

Heat butter in large soup pot over medium/low heat. Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook covered and stir occasionally until soft about 8 minutes. Stir in flour cook 3 minutes. Pour in broth and crush tomatoes into pot. Add parsley, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil cover then lower heat to a simmer for 20 minutes, remove from heat and cool. IMPORTANT STEP: REMOVE BAY LEAF! Blend soup smooth then bring to a low heat. Wisk in cream add salt, pepper and sour cream.

Helpful hint: If you don't remove bay leaf you will have hard bits of grit that will spoil a wonderful soup. I know because I found out the hard way. Enjoy!

* This was my father-in-law's favorite thing to eat. We miss him but we will always remember him and how much he enjoyed this recipe. We hope you will love this soup as much as he did. Enjoy!