Cheesy Broccoli Soup

This recipe is so good--I take it places and it always gets gobbled up quickly. And, it originally came from my mother-in-law. I think I've adapted and tweaked it a bit, but it's basically her soup.

I'm not always good at giving exact measurements, but I made this soup tonight, so I might remember exactly how I did it.

Saute 3 celery ribs and 1/2 a large onion in your soup pan

Add a can of chicken broth and then steam broccoli with the celery, onion and broth (I used about 3-4 medium crowns) Cut off the hardest part of the stem, but then chop up some of what's left--it will just blend in

Add a carton of cream or half and half (I've used both and can't tell a lot of difference between them)

Add more broth until you have the amount of soup you want. I think I added two more cans.

Add a whole brick (or a little less) of Velveeta. If you use real cheese, you have to make sure the temperature is just right or else it will curdle. I've always used the Velveeta, and it works great. Chop it up so it melts quicker.

Thicken with cornstarch. Put some cold water in a cup, add a few scoops of cornstarch, stir. When it's smooth just add it to the soup. If it's not as thick as you'd like, add some more. If you get it too thick, thin with milk or more cream. This is good soup to heat up the next day, and generally it is pretty thick by then.

Enjoy!

Helpful hints:

• Do NOT overcook the broccoli. Steam for a couple of minutes, just until it's bright green. Mushy broccoli, besides being gross, overpowers the whole soup. Yes, I know it's broccoli soup, but you do want to taste the cheese part, too.
• When I first started making this soup I steamed the broccoli in a separate pan and added the water (there wasn't much), but that dirties another pan. Today I did it all in the same pan and I think it was great. In fact I got compliments that it wasn't too "broccoli-tasting."
• I also used to chop up the broccoli pretty fine, which is okay if you don't like large pieces. But lately, and perhaps I'm just getting lazy, I've left them in larger pieces, and that's not only faster, but I generally hear--oh, big pieces of broccoli! So that's a good thing. You can chop them however you desire. I won't be there to see and you don't have to ever tell me how you did it.