Cooking Thursday

Every year, my Dad asks me to freeze the ham bone  from the Christmas ham and make him some pea soup.  I made that soup last week, and had him and my stepmom over for supper.  The recipe I use is one that I got from a local paper about 30 years ago.  They had a contest for best soup, and this recipe won.  We enjoy it and I bet you would too!

Dutch Green Pea Soup1 pound split green peas, rinsed
2 1/2 quarts water
3 medium onions. chopped
2 large stalks celery, sliced
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 ham bone with meat
4 large carrots, sliced
4 large potatoes, cubed

Combine peas, water, onions, celery, salt, pepper and ham bone. Heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Add carrots and potatoes and simmer another hour until peas have cooked down to a thick broth and potatoes and carrots are tender. Stir occasionally during cooking. More water may be added if soup is too thick. Makes 10 generous servings.