Homemade Tomato Soup

So my neighbor comes over with this bowl of tomatoes the size of Texas from her garden and says she cant look at another tomato ever again!! Well, what does any noble neighbor do to help out another neighbor? They take the bowl of tomatoes and help out a friend!! ;o)

Then.......they make salsa and tomato soup!! This recipe for tomato soup is so fabulously delicious, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. I also made homemade wheat bread that day and made grilled cheese out of it to dunk into our tomato soup!!

12 cups ripe tomatoes, chopped (approx)
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (Salt to taste basically this is just a guideline)
2 teaspoons white sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 clove garlic mashed and made into garlic paste

Directions:

Place tomatoes, onion, celery, parsley and bay leaf in a large pot and cook, covered, on low heat for 1 to 2 hours, until forms tomato mush. ;o) Remove bay leaf and blend tomato mixture in batches in a food processor or blender, or you can use your hand blender, which is what I did. Then run through a sieve or strainer and return to pot. Stir in salt, sugar, seasoning salt, pepper and garlic salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook, uncovered, 1 to 2 hours, until thickened. If you would like to turn this into a creamy tomato basil soup, during the cooking process add basil leaves as well. Then about 10 minutes before you serve your soup add in some heavy cream, about a cup!!