This heart dish is an all day project, but will serve dozens of hungry guests. You can reduce the portions for smaller batches, but I suggest you use lots of bacon to give the chowder that velvet like silkiness. I serve this with a big bowl of popcorn or Townhouse Crackers. If you want to freeze some of this, I suggest you omit the potatoes except in the batch you're going to eat. Place broth in large pot and add the juice from the whole packed tomatoes, thyme and ground pepper.
Hand crush the whole tomatoes and add to pot.
Also add the carrots and celery. Chop the bacon in rough 1 inch cubes and add to a skillet with rough chopped onions. Fry this mix until it is dark brown. Add bacon mixture to pot. Add potatoes to pot when carrots and celery are nearly tender.