It was hard to capture the flakes, but the sky looked kind of like this:
Unfortunately, all this snow has resulted in this....picturesque, but not good for the roof:
Here is what it looks like when the ice dams leak water into your home:
I wanted to post yesterday, but I was a little busy with the roof clearing operation.
Trust me, this is an all-day affair, even with four adults working at it.
(A big THANK YOU to Katie and Andy for their help!)
The recipe for today is a nice one for after a cold and wet day of work.
Unfortunately, I somehow never took photos when I made it after Christmas.
(I think we are generally too excited when enjoying this soup to remember taking photos.)
This is the last of my winter "holiday" recipes. It's only a "holiday" recipe because that is when we tend to have a HoneyBaked Ham, specifically Christmas and Easter. These hams are awesome! I have never had pea soup from a HoneyBaked Ham bone that didn't get devoured quickly. And yes....they are gluten free!
Holiday Pea Soup with Ham
Serves 8.
This takes all afternoon (4 hours or so), so plan ahead!
Rinse a 1-lb package of dried green split peas.
Put it in an 8-qt. pot. Add 8 cups of water,
bring to a boil on the stove, let it boil a minute,
then turn off the heat, cover it, and let it sit an hour.
Do not drain....Add a ham bone from a HoneyBaked Half Ham (or your favorite ham).
If you want, you can tie the bone in some cheesecloth to keep little bones from separating out.
Cover it again, turn the stove to low, and let it simmer an hour.
Turn off the heat again. Take out your ham bone and put it on a platter. Let it cool a little. Take a knife and pull off the meat. Cut up the meat into small pieces. I am pretty picky at this point, and if it's not a piece of meat I'd love to pop into my mouth then and there, then I don't use it. I don't go for fatty pieces!
Make sure there are no little bones sitting around in your pot.
Put the cut-up meat back into the pot. Discard the bone and other stuff. I usually put this into a plastic bag before putting it in the trash. Who wants messy trash?
Add a chopped onion, a shredded carrot, and some parsley.
You may want to add more leftover ham, if you have it.
Turn on your stove's burner to low again and let it simmer another 2 hours.
Taste and see how the seasonings are. I don't believe I ever had to add anything at this point. The saltiness/flavor from the ham is perfect!
This is one of those dishes that actually tastes even better the second day.
