our april ham

We only have ham once a year - Easter. Well growing up, we always had a holiday dinner at our neighbor's house, the Wilson's - and we had ham then too. It was always so delicious!

Easter has become one of my favorite holidays because I don't have to cook a main dish - Honey Baked does that for me. This year, we were lucky enough to have Kayla and Peter join us for the holiday weekend!

We toured Yazoo Brewery - very fun.

spent an afternoon at Radnor Lake...

Peter was a crane.

In addition to lots of other good food and drink, we went to Hattie B's for hot chicken. And then Peter cried because his chicken was so hot - it was very funny for the rest of us.

After a great long weekend (and lots of leftover ham), I made a delicious split pea soup.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 chopped medium onion

4 carrots, thinly sliced

3 celery stalks, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves

Kosher salt and ground pepper

1 quart chicken stock, homemade is preferable

1 bag (16 ounces) green split peas, picked over and rinsed

ham bone plus 2 cups reserved ham cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

In a large stock pot with a lid, heat oil over medium. Add onion, carrots, celery, and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables begin to soften, 5 to 8 minutes. Add broth, split peas, ham bone, and 5 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and partially cover; simmer until peas are soft, 30 to 45 minutes. Remove and discard bone from soup. Use an immersion blender to blend about half of the soup (or carefully remove half to a blender). After it is the consistency you like, add ham cubes, and simmer until heated through. If necessary, thin with water. Add salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste. Serve topped with croutons. 

Top with some croutons, yum!