Clam Chowder...stopping the madness before it starts lol

Tis the season to be baking...and for crock pots, stews, and cinnamon. And the best way to kick off the season is with a giant pot of clam chowder. By giant, I mean that we ate it for dinner last night, I sent it with two clients today for lunch, and there is plent for dinner tonight. I've already been asked for the recipe twice, so in order to stop the madness before it starts, I'm posting it here for your enjoyment. This is a recipe I altered (duh, do I ever follow a recipe? Recipes to me are like the Pirate Code - they're more like "guidelines") from one I found on my all-time favorite recipe site, Allrecipes.com.

Clam Chowder

Ingredients
4 (6.5 ounce) cans whole clams
1 cup minced onion
4 large stalks celery, diced
8 - 10 medium potatoes, cubed
4 medium carrots, diced
1 qt vegatable broth (or seafood broth, if you can find it)
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart half-and-half cream
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1.Drain juice from clams into a large pot over the onions, celery, potatoes and carrots. Add broth to cover, and cook over medium heat until tender.
2.Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Whisk in cream and stir constantly until thick and smooth. Add to pot with vegatables and broth. Heat through, but do not boil.
3.Stir in clams just before serving. If they cook too much they get tough. When clams are heated through, stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.

I hope you all get a chance to make this as the lovely cold season approaches (haha, yeah I know everyone in Texas is rolling in stitches right now, but let's speak metaphorically and try to pretend), because it is totally worth it.