Tomato Basil Soup

Here's cooking adventure number two. I only had to call my mom for help twice as I endeavored to follow another soup recipe. The soup kick must be my vain attempt to cling to what little cool weather we have and hold off the scorching Arizona heat that will inevitably come. This recipe is from my mom. It's a result of replicating the tomato basil soup at Applebee's. We all agree my mom's is even better. I wrote this recipe down so that I could understand it. Remember my lack of even basic cooking skills? I hope it makes sense to everybody else.

Tomato Basil Soup

2 stalks celery
1 onion
olive oil
5 tbsp butter
4 cloves minced garlic
2 (28oz cans) whole tomatoes
4 cups tomato juice
1 (14oz can) chicken broth
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
12 basil leaves
1/3 cup flour
1 (12oz can) evaporated milk

Finely chop celery and onion. The finer the better. Sauté in Olive Oil and 1 tbsp butter. Add minced garlic when moister is half gone. Continue to sauté until all excess moister is evaporated. Purée the canned whole tomatoes and add to cooked vegetables. Add tomato juice, chicken broth, salt & pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cook at a low simmer for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add chopped basil. In separate pan melt 4 tbsp butter then whisk in flour. Add butter, flour mixture to lightly boiling soup with whisk. Add evaporated milk.