Drunken Bean with Bacon Soup

I had some bacon left from my Oscar Meyer Fully Cooked Bacon package, and I had a can of Luck's Great Northern White Beans, so I decided to make Bean with Bacon soup.

I also had some diced tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, chicken stock, garlic and spices -- so everything went in the pot.

That's it -- that's the recipe. Oh, and some beer went in there too -- I love drinking beer, and it seems to make everything I'm cooking taste better as well.

If you need a little more direction, here goes.

Cook some bacon, and crumble.

Put some minced garlic in the pot with about 1/4 cup chicken stock. Heat and stir. Chop up some carrots, and throw them in there with some more chicken stock. Then chop onions and celery and throw them in there too. After about 5 minutes on medium heat, throw some stewed tomatoes in, add some pepper and cumin (if you like), and splash some beer in there (if that's what you're drinking, and you are so inclined).

Next, open up a can of Great Northern White Beans, and remove some of the mush from the top. Stir them into your soup, and add some more chicken stock until you get the consistency you like. Add crumbled bacon, and simmer for a bit.

I hate canned soup, because the vegetables are so mushy and it is too salty, so I take care not to overcook or overseason my homemade soup.

Now if you're Italian, or want to pretend to be, you can add pasta, and you'll have a lovely Pasta Fagioli (Pasta Fazool), as immortalized by Dean Martin in "That's Amore!" Sing it Dean . . .