Clam Chowda Mug O' Soup

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 slices thick cut bacon, chopped
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 4 ribs celery with greens, chopped
• 8 sprigs fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper
• 4 teaspoons hot sauce, eyeball it
• 4 tablespoons [gluten-free] all-purpose flour
• 2 pints half-and-half
• 4 cups chicken stock, from soup aisle
• 2 14 ½ oz. cans of peeled, cooked potatoes, chopped into bite size pieces
• 4 cans whole baby clams and their juice

Directions

1. In a medium pot over medium high, brown bacon pieces. Add butter. When butter is melted, add onions, celery and thyme sprigs. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce and cook 5 minutes. Add flour and cook a minute more.
2. Add half-and-half and stock and bring to a bubble, then stir in potatoes and clams. Bring soup back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, until soup has thickened to coat the back of a spoon.
3. Remove the thyme sprigs from the soup. The thyme leaves will have fallen off into the soup. Stir and adjust seasonings in your soup. Pour soup into mugs.