Split Pea With Ham Soup Recipe

When the season change from summer to autumn the days are cooler and the nights can be cold. As a rule, when the weather is cooler I will go to my mother's cookbook and look for her split pea with ham soup recipe.

This is a hearty and wholesome recipe that is packed with protein and nutrients. It is also a one-pot meal that can be served for dinner and a bowl of soup for lunch the next day. Normally I serve warm from the oven dinner rolls or crackers.

It takes two days to prepare this recipe because it is best to soak the split green peas overnight in a pot of water. Then the following day you would gather your ingredients and make the soup.

Ingredients:

Chopped Carrots

Chopped Leeks

Chopped Potatoes

Diced Ham Steak

Split Peas

Chicken stock

Diced clove of garlic

2 sprigs of Fresh Thyme

2 sprigs of Fresh Rosemary

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a soup pot add olive oil and heat to medium-high. Then add your garlic and saute it before adding your leeks, carrots, and potatoes. Stir so that vegetable cook evenly. Cook for five minutes. Add your chicken stock, split peas, ham, herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Stir all ingredients and cook on the stove until soups come to a boil. Stirring while the soup is cooking will prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Turn heat to simmer and cook for an hour. Continue to stir the soup until all vegetable and peas are tender.

Here are other split pea soup recipes that you may like

Keep your soup recipes organized with a custom card.  Buy as shown or add your recipe.  I like the recipe cards because it is a nice way to share with my family and friends.  All cards were created by artists at Zazzle.com. 

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Navy Bean Soup Recipe

When the temperature changes in mid to late fall I cook soups and stews for my family. One of my favorite evening meal soups is Navy Bean made with fresh vegetables, ham steak and served with warm in-the-oven French Baguette loaf of bread This hearty soup is packed with nutrients that will fuel my family, providing them energy for their evening chores and will help to fight off colds and flu.

When it comes to making this soup I have no rules on what vegetables to use. Normally I prepare this soup with leeks, potatoes, celery, and carrots. I will peel, chop and cook the vegetables together in a large pot of low-sodium chicken broth. When the vegetables are cooked I will add the navy beans, fresh herbs, and two sprigs of rosemary tied together and dropped into the soup pot. I will season the soup with a freshly grated peppercorn medley by McCormick, and a clove of freshly chopped garlic. When all of the seasonings are added I will then add the chopped ham steak or chicken sausage to the soup and stir well and allow the soup to simmer for another 30 minutes.

I like to serve a bowl of this navy bean and vegetable soup with warm in-the-oven banquette bread topped with herb-whipped butter spread. You can garnish the bowl of soup with grated Parmesan cheese and diced chives.

A large bowl of navy bean soup usually fills my family up to the point that they do not want dessert or a before-bed snack. I like making a pot of soup because there are always leftovers for lunch or after-school snacks the following day.

Here are some other recipes for Navy Bean soup.

Spooky Halloween Cookie Recipe

 Tonight is the first cold fall night and I found that I was thinking about Halloween cookie recipes to serve at our annual gathering. Normally when I am looking for a unique recipe idea I will go to the food network but this year I went to Allrecipes.com and found witch cookie fingers.

The cook that shared the recipe mentioned that she made the base of the cookie from her sugar cookie recipe. Yes, the same recipe that we all use during the Christmas holidays so you know the cookie will taste good. Apparently instead of making the cookies the traditional way you would roll them in the shape of a finger and bake.

Then cool the cookies before applying the frosting for the fingernails. I love this idea and know that this cookie will be a hit at our party. I plan to add a few witch fingers to the dessert trays.

Learn other Halloween cookie recipes at Allrecipes

Collecting Acorn Nuts for Recipes

Acorns are a nut that comes from oak trees. We have 12 Oak trees on our property and in the past, I collected them during the fall season to be used as feed for squirrels and deer during the winter months. Feed for animals is good, but using the acorn nuts for food is a better idea because they are rich in B vitamins, protein and are also good for controlling blood sugar levels.

Acorn nuts are a good source of food for wildlife in the winter.  

Ripe acorn nuts

You can collect acorns at parks or from your backyard but before you begin to gather the nuts know that not all oak trees are created equal and some produce acorns that are best left on the ground for wildlife. White Oaks produce a bland tasting acorns. Swamp Oak, Oregon White Oak, Emory Oak and Burr Oak are the best for harvesting for food recipes.

When we collect acorns we look for brown ones because they are ripe. Stay away from green or black acorns or ones with mildew/rotting You want a smooth and firm acorn with no damage to the nut. Toss out any imperfect acorns or leave them for wildlife.

Collect brown nuts only.  Throw out the black or green nuts.

I do not know of an easy way to pick up acorns other than getting the family involved. My husband will rake all of ripe (brown acorns) into a pile then we fill our buckets with the best acorns we can find.

Get your acorns ready for processing by removing the shell (cap on top of the nut) then wash them off to remove any dirt or debris. In order to make the acorn tasty (a sweet nutty flavor) you will need to a water blanching; put the acorns into a stock pot, fill the pot with water that covers the acorns. Bring the water to a boil, turn heat to medium-high and blanch the acorns for 40 minutes. (water will turn brown) remove the brown water from the stock pot and refill the pot with fresh water and bring the water to a boil again. Repeat the process until the water is no longer brown.

When the water is clear (no more brown color) strain the acorns and allow them to dry. It is best to pour them out onto the counter, rather than leaving them bunch up in a pot. Or you can lay them out on cookie sheets.  

When the acorns are dry you can use them for making flour for baked goods, dry them for coffee, pickle them and more learn acorn-recipes here https://honest-food.net/foraging-recipes/acorn-recipes/

Here is an acorn cookie recipe that you may like.

Favorite Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe

One of my favorite beverages in the autumn season is pumpkin spice latte. Normally I buy a cup of this delicious pumpkin brew at Starbucks to enjoy but the costs for this drink does add up. So this year I found a recipe that is quick and easy to make at home. The pumpkin spice latte tastes so good that it became a fall favorite recipe.

I searched online and found several recipes at Allrecipes. What I like is that the recipes shared on this website by people that really enjoy cooking and all recipes are tested by their readers. This recipe got many rave reviews and one taste will tell you why everyone loves the autumn season drink.

For the pumpkin spice latte, you will need the following ingredients

Almond milk

Pumpkin puree

Vanilla extract

Sugar

Pumpkin pie spice

Black pepper (this is a taste preference)

A whisk

A saucepan

2 coffee mugs

Here is a latte recipe from Allrecipes enjoy! View another latte recipe in the video below.

Jot down the recipe on this card. Keep the recipe for yourself and give one to a friend. I think this card is very cute and would make a thoughtful gift for some who loves to cook.

Cooking Is An Art Recipe Insert

by HeritageMatters

Here are some cute pumpkin spice coffee mugs that you may like

Pumpkin spice & everything nice coffee mug

by Kymberli_Designs

Pumpkin Spice Season Coffee Latte Autumn Fall Coffee Mug Set

by rebeccaheartsny

Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice Fall Mug

by beckynimoy

Harvesting Apples at U-Pick-It Farms

One of the benefits of living in the Midwest is being able to go to one of the many farms to pick your own apples at the end of the summer. We are fortunate that there are apple orchards close by where we can spend the afternoon harvesting apples from the trees. 

Normally our weather in late summer is hot during the day, so we always look at the upcoming weather forecast and try to choose a day that is cloudy or less hot.

A good way to find U-pick-it farms is to go to your local farmers market and ask another way is to watch your newspaper as there are sometimes ads. I recommend that you call the farm before you go. Find out if the apples are ready to be picked and if they prefer people coming on the weekdays or weekends. In the past, we drove an hour to a U-pick-it farm only to find out that they were out of apples.

Always dress properly for picking apples. I would recommend that you wear a comfortable long sleeve shirt and pants, hiking boots and socks are important and also a sun hat. Treat your clothing for an insect repellent that would include biting flies fleas and ticks.

Bring along bottled water and snacks. I like breakfast or protein bars, but if you are going to be out in the country you may want to bring along a fleece blanket for kids to use for an afternoon nap in the car or for putting down for a picnic lunch at the park or an open meadow.

Don’t forget your camera. Make happy memories with your family by spending the day in the country picking apples. These photos are great for scrapbooks and sharing on Facebook.

Pick enough apples for your favorite recipes for your family to enjoy throughout the fall season.

Here is a recipe for spiced apple chutney.