Split Pea Soup

Someone graciously gave us a ham this summer, and I dearly love ham! I love it because it's delicious, but also because you can do so much with it. We ate ham meat for two dinners, used it to make several lunch sandwiches, froze two baggies of cut up ham to use in other recipes, and I made soup with the ham bone. It is very easy to make and there are long periods of time when you don't need to be in the kitchen, but it is an all day thing, so plan accordingly.

Split Pea with Ham Soup

In large stock pot, cover ham bone with water and slowly bring to boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and let simmer for 2-3 hours (3 is better if you have the time, but I've done it for only 2 and the soup was still delicious!). Add a bit of water if necessary. The water will become your soup base, so you don't want to let it all boil off. When ham bone has finished simmering, pull out of water with tongs and let cool on cutting board. Strain the water that is left in your stock pot for fatty deposits or bits of gristle.

Cut up:

carrots
onions
celery (optional)

Add these to the water and bring to boil again. Cut any clinging ham meat off the bone after it's cooled, and add this to the soup. Throw bone away. Add in other ham meat if desired. Add 2-3 cups of dried split peas (3 if you want thicker soup). Reduce heat and let the soup mixture simmer again until split peas are soft and mushy (about 1.5 to 2 hours). Salt to taste. Eat and enjoy!

Canning Peaches

Don't those jars of golden peaches look so yummy??!

I will confess that I am not a canning expert, and by myself I have only ever canned peaches. I don't own a pressure cooker, so all my canning must be done by hot water bath, and peaches is perfect for this method. So every fall for several years, I have canned peaches.

Though I don't know much, what I do know I freely share! :-)

The key to successful water bath canning is that everything be hot. The liquid you pour into the jars, the lids and rings, and the water for the "bath". Everything needs to be hot so that the lids will seal properly. In all my years of canning peaches I have never once had a jar not seal, though some took a few hours to seal completely. To start, fill a 2 or 3 quart pan with water, lids and rings, and begin heating. Also begin heating a large pot of water with a small amount of sugar added. I fill an 8 quart stock pot nearly full and add only about 1/2 cup of sugar (I am very light on the sugar). This will become your peach juice after you pour it over the peaches. And also fill a large water bath canning pot about half full of water and begin heating that as well. Then soak the peaches in warm water. This makes the skins peel off easily.


After you have peeled and halved the peaches, you'll have a bunch of jars lined up like the picture below. Behind them you can see a small pot on the back burner filled to overflowing with lids and rings, and the stockpot on the front burner. Dip a pyrex measuring cup (or whatever you want to use) into the stock pot of sugar water and pour some into each jar, leaving only 1/4 inch of air at the top.


Immediately take a lid and ring out of their pot with a set of tongs and cover each jar. Place them into the rack inside your large canning pot. My rack holds 7 quart jars at once.


Lower the rack into the hot water (use hotpads!!), cover, and bring to a boil. Once you have a nice rolling boil, let boil for 20 minutes. When the time is up, bring the rack back up and hook over the tops of the pan so it's easier to get each jar out. Using canning jar tongs, take each jar out of the rack and set on a cooling rack (or a bunch of towels) to cool. The lids don't all seal at once, so don't be discouraged if you can depress the lid right after the water bath. Let them sit over night and try again the next morning. If the lid still depresses, refrigerate that jar and eat the peaches within the week. If not, store them in a cool, dark place and eat throughout the winter!