1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, crisp the bacon over medium heat. Once crisp, remove it from the pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels.
2. To the bacon grease in the pan, add the onion and celery. Cook for 5 minutes and then add in the garlic, spices, and pinch of salt. Cook for another minute.
3. Stir in the flour until it has coated all the vegetables and cook for another 1-2 minutes (you want to cook out that raw flour taste).
4. Slowly stream in the broth, stirring constantly to pick up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot.
5. Bring the broth to a simmer and then add in the sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. Season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
6. Simmer the soup, partially covered, for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the potatoes are fall-apart tender and the broth is slightly thickened.
7. Using an immersion blender, blitz the chowder a bit to break up some of the potatoes, but don’t go overboard! We want this to be chunky and hearty. We like big chunks of potatoes here. You can also use a traditional blender – put roughly 1-2 cups of the chowder into the blender and blend until smooth. Stir this back into the pot of chowder.
8. Stir in the half-and-half and season, to taste, with more salt and pepper. Be warned that you’ll likely need to add quite a bit of salt – potatoes require a lot of seasoning!
9. Stir half the crisped bacon into the chowder, reserving the other half for serving.

To Serve:

Ladle the soup into serving bowls and garnish however you prefer.

We like to eat this like a loaded baked potato. We top ours with some of the cooked bacon, some grated cheddar, a dollop of Greek yogurt (or sour cream), and lots of fresh scallions and chives.