OK, so here's the famous Best Beer Cheese Soup Duke was looking for. We made this for Dan; personally I thought it was a bit salty, but that could have been because while it called for two bottles of beer (yuk!) I actually used one normal beer and one extra strength by mistake. Dan, however, liked it and that was the important thing at that time...

5 slices bacon
2 tbl butter or marg
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery rib, diced
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 tbs flour
2 c chick broth
2 12 fl oz cans or bottles beer
1 lb processed cheese, cubed
1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 tsp garlic pwdr

Cook bacon in a large deep skillet; drain on paper towels; crumble.
Melt butter over med heat, cook onion, carrot and celery until soft, 7-10 min. Add bacon, basil, oregano and green onions; cook and stir for 2 min. Stir the flour into the mixture until completely dissolved; pour in the chicken broth and beer; cook until heated through. Melt the cheeses in the mixture in small batches; season with the garlic powder and serve.

Hope you all enjoy it; it's a good, hearty soup. Today we're trying a creamy chicken and wild rice since Dan had some from BreadCo and loved it. (Oh, to be so spoiled!) It's from allrecipes.com and it's called cream of chicken soup with wild rice. We'll let you know how it goes; it got rave reviews. (Pretty good, hunh, looking up recipes on allrecipes.com and all?)

Just a funny note: Sarah reported on her blog that she and Anna and I ran a 5k race the other day. She mentioned that Anna did quite well, actually winning 3rd place in the 15-19 year old category. What she didn't mention was that she and I also medaled; she in first for the 20-29 year olds and me in 2nd for the 50-59 year olds. And this despite our 40:30 time! (There were no others in the 20-29 year olds and only two of us in the 50-59s...) Anyway, it was fun! We were pretty stiff the next day though!