Melt some butter and throw in the garlic just until you can smell it, maybe 30 seconds, add the carrots and celery and sauté to soften the them just a bit, I did about 6 minutes, stirring every 45 seconds or so. Note 1: If you don't have Potatoes or Corn Starch, you could toss in a couple of table spoons of All Purpose Flower at this point, coating the vegetables and cooking it down. It takes twice as much APF as Corn Starch to thicken soup and it takes much longer to cook out that dry Flour flavor so you have to add Flour much earlier in the cooking process.
At this point we will need to pour in some liquid, Vegetable stock would probably be best, today I have chicken stock, but water would probably work just fine. Throw in a tablespoon of kosher salt and 3 or 4 bay leaves and bring that to a boil, then let simmer until the carrots are soft (30 minutes give or take). Note 2: if you are using a fresh potato, peel and dice it and throw it in now so it has time to soften with the carrots.
Add in the potatoes and blend it until smooth (immersion blender or transfer to a regular blender). It came out plenty thick enough and so I didn't need to use the cornstarch at all. Note 3: If you don't have any potatoes and are going to thicken with Corn Starch, remember to pull a little of the liquid out into a seperate bowl and whisk that with a couple of table spoons of Corn Starch and then pour that back into the soup. Do not add Corn Starch directly to the large pot of soup so you don't get lumps. We might also be able to add a little smoothness later with some Heavy Cream or something along those lines as well, we shall see.
Once it is as smooth as you want it, start adding your seasonings. 1 tablespoon each of Onion Powder, Oregano, Basil, and Parley, and then one teaspoon each of White Pepper, Turmeric, fresh black pepper. Taste and adjust as needed. I might have snuck (sneaked for the grammar Nazi's) in a bit more black pepper, I like my pepper grinder. Remember food is not science, food is very subject to each pallet, add whatever spices and seasonings you like, experiment, try to make it YOUR SOUP. To loosely quote Captain Barbossa (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 2003) .. "First, your guarantee of a delicious soup was not part of our negotiations nor our agreement so I must do nothing. And secondly, you must be a Chef for the Chef's code to apply and you're not. And thirdly, the recipe is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules. Welcome aboard Live From Orbit City, Miss Betty Crocker".
At this point, I found it pretty darn good but decided to add a teaspoonish of crushed red pepper flakes for a little heat on the backend. Once you have it spiced just right, simmer for another 10 or 15 minutes to marry everything up and get those flavors all joined together.
At this point you could add a cup or so of Heavy Cream, or, as in my case, once removed from the fire add a dollop of Greek Yogurt to add a creamy smoothness (don't add yogurt to the pot on the stove, it might just curdle, Yogurt and Sour Cream are best served at the table on an individual fondness basis, while Heavy Cream is bessed cooked into the recipe for additional creaminess and smoothness).
Top with scallions, perhaps some fresh parsley, maybe some crumbled bacon bits if this isn't a Vegetarian lunch?, I had a pack of Chick-Fil-Lay Charred Tomato Crispy Red Bell Peppers laying around, which I gladly threw in with a spoon of Greek Yogurt, serve with your favorite fall beer, and Enjoy. Mighty Darn Good if I must say so myself.