Click on the title and it will take you straight to Uncle Bill's recipe to food.com. Oh,I so miss recipezaar.Everything was faster and it was a part of my life.On the other hand, I probably wasn't going to start this blog if it wasn't for the big change.
Now,getting back to this amazing soup. Uncle Bill and I,share the same birthday,just the years of birth are different. I just love his soup!!! Recently,I just throw everything in the pressure cooker.

Ingredients:
8 cups water
1 large ham bone
2 cups green dried split peas
2 large carrots, peeled and diced small
2 medium onions, chopped small
2 large celery ribs, include leaves, chop small
1 large bay leaf
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed
1 pinch dried thyme

Rinse peas well in cold water and add to a large cooking pot.
 Measure 8 cups of water and add to cooking pot.
 Bring to boil, remove from heat, cover and let sit for 1 hour.
 Return to stove and bring back to boil.
 Add ham bone, carrots, onions, celery, bay leaf, beef bouillon, salt, peppercorns and dried thyme.
Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Remove ham bone and cut off any remaining ham, cut into bite size pieces and return to soup.
Discard ham bone.
If there are big pieces of ham in the soup, remove, cut into bite size pieces and return to soup.
Remove bay leaf and discard.
Adjust seasonings to taste.
If you desire a smooth soup, then puree' in batches in a food processor or blender.
 Or eat the soup without puree'ing.
 If soup is too thick, add more water to your desired consistency.
Beef broth or chicken broth may be added, just reduce the water by the amounts used.
 Smoked ham hocks are excellent to use instead of a ham bone.
If there is not enough ham on the ham bone, then add additional ham of your choice.
You may also use about 1/4 teaspoon of Liquid Hickory Smoke, to get a smokey flavor.
You may also use whole peas, but it will take a bit longer to cook these peas so that they are tender.