My favorite holiday meal

For my first post, I'm going to do something a little different. Rather than review a restaurant, I'm going to post a recipe. Give it a try, I hope you enjoy!

My favorite thing about the holidays isn't the presents. It's not spending time with my family, nor even Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Rather, it's what happens after Christmas dinner. Every year, on December 25th, right after we've cleaned the table, my mother stashes in the freezer the bone from the Christmas ham. Towards the end of January, after the pounds of leftovers have been eaten and Christmas is all but forgotten, she pulls it out and slaves over the stove for hours (ok, more like 20 minutes) making my favorite meal of the year. This year, I was lucky enough to take the coveted bone with me back to Cleveland and am preparing to make my own version of my mom's famous (at least in our family), award-winning (if it's not, it should be) Split-Pea Soup.

Split-Pea Soup
3-3.5 hours
Serves 6 (realistically 4)

1 lg (or 2-3 small) onion, finely chopped
16 oz dried green split peas
1 sm ham shank
3 quarts water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
0.5 t garlic powder
0.5 t oregano
pepper
1 bay leaf
1.5 c thinly sliced carrots
1 c chopped celery

In a 6-quart (no smaller, trust me) stockpot sweat 1 large chopped onion in 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add peas, ham shank, water, bouillon cubes, garlic powder, oregano, 2-3 good grinds of black pepper, and the bay leaf & bring to a boil. Skim off the scum and reduce heat. Simmer for 90 minutes. Remove ham shank and trim meat off the bone. Return the meat to the pot, stir in the carrots & celery, and simmer uncovered for 2-2.5 hours or until soup reaches desired thickness. Serve and enjoy!

I generally add (tons of) rosemary and ground sage and a teaspoon or so of kosher salt, but straight up it beats anything from a can! Hot cornbread served with butter & honey makes a perfect compliment!