Crockpot Clam Chowder

"I love this because it shows that simple food is best! I did everything the same in this recipe except I used the frozen clams my boyfriend and I had caught clam digging a couple weeks ago. Instead of using the half and half, I used half heavy whipping cream and half milk because that's all I had. The bacon I had was practically half fat. I don't like biting into fat so I used the whole pound of bacon and cut all the fat out. Diced up the meaty parts and put a couple large strips of fat in the crock pot for flavor and took it out when it was done. I also used chicken stock instead of water like someone else had mentioned. I let it cook a couple extra hours to make the clam really tender as well as the potatoes. My boyfriend says he considers himself a clam chowder connesuir and this is the best he's ever had. I thought it was a little salty though so next time I won't cook it with the fat in and I'll use half or no chicken stock. Otherwise, this was great!"