‘Tis the Season?

(Not Christmas, silly. Thanksgiving hasn’t even gotten here yet, although if the stores begin their Holiday decorating any sooner they might as well just leave the stuff up year-’round.)

Soup Season!

Hubby fixed a smoked ham earlier this week, which meant I had this lovely ham bone. The weather here has definitely gotten chillier and the combination screamed to me, "SOUP!"

I wondered if might be my Yankee upbringing that made this such a compulsion, until I saw Jenna had blogged that with the weather getting cooler, she'd made a pot of soup last night!

The next hurdle for me was figuring out what kind of soup to make, so I consulted Da Eating Machine (a.k.a. Da Kid).

"I have a ham bone and I’m going to make a pot of soup. Which kind do you want?" Then I began pulling out of the cabinet bags of dried limas, navy beans, 15-bean, 17-bean, kidney, split peas . .

Before he fled (Was it the crazed expression on my face?) he gasped, "Split pea!"

So, that’s what we’re having for dinner tonight.

Pot (1)
Water
Bag of dried split peas (2 cups-worth I’m guessing) (1)
Ham bone (1)
Leftover ham (some)
Onion, diced (small) (1)
Celery, diced stalk (2)
Potato, peeled and cut into chunks (medium) (2)
Carrot, peeled and thin-sliced (1, it was the last one or I would have used 2)
Bay leaf (1)
Salt and pepper

Put the water, ham bone and dried peas in the pot. Bring to boil. While that’s happening, cut up the rest of the stuff (leftover ham and vegetables) and put it in the pot. Add bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste.

Turn heat down and simmer until the split peas have become sludge. Stir as needed.

Total time, maybe two hours.