Posted By AmyD. on November 5, 2009

Wow, this place looks almost psychotically autumn-ey, doesn’t it?

(that statement will make no sense when the autumn template goes away so I hope no one goes prowling through my archives come December)

What am I averaging now? Two posts a month? Maybe?

Who would have thunk it, hmm?

The sad thing is that every time I crack open to write a new post I end up with an overwhelming desire to give some sort of update. You know, the kids are fine, the hubs is fine, I’m no more crazy than usual, and yes, Maggie is still bouncing off the walls.

As I write this my Halloween decorations are still up… that’s because Halloween was on a Saturday and I needed Sunday to recover and then it was Monday and who UN-decorates on a Monday?

Of course, now it’s Thursday and I’m out of excuses. Luckily, most of my Halloween stuff transfers to Thanksgiving once I put the witches, skulls, tombstones, and zombies away. I’m actually looking forward to the transition because I’m so over October/Halloween.

Lately we’ve been entertaining a lot and I’m looking forward to more entertaining the further we get into the holiday season. I’ve decided that I need to start updating my cookware and am currently putting a list together of Enamel Cast Cookware, specifically Le Creuset, which I have been drooling over for a while now. The prices are nearly ridiculous but they are UH-MAZING pieces of kitchen equipment. Plus, the colors are so freaking cool and if you have seen any of my funky kitchen pieces then you know that I am all about color.

If you can get over my chocolate brown walls, which I totally love and seriously have not spent a moment regretting! Really!!!

I pretty much have Mike convinced I am in dire need of this cookware although, it took very little convincing since he’s a total kitchen geek too! But, I’ve been turning out some kickass food lately and that has pretty much convinced him to restock my cabinets. Maybe I’ll get lucky and get some Kitchen Scoops out of it too!

Last night I made a super rich split pea soup, which may sound yucky to the finicky folk, but I swear, it’s like green cream of potato without the carbs and with a ton of flavor and BACON BITS!!! Bacon bits make everything better!

So, here ya go, because I’m cool like that and I swear you have to try it because it’s so darn worth it!!!

1 lg onion
2-3 carrots
2-3 stalks of celery
1 jalepeno or two serrano peppers, your choice
Pkg bacon
2 big cans (the 6 cup cans) of chicken broth
3 cups split peas (dry, in package, like beans)
1/4 tsp thyme
1 tsp. granulated garlic or garlic powder
1 bay leaf
crushed red pepper
salt/pepper to taste

I chop the bacon up while it is raw and throw it in my soup pot. Cook it up to as crispy as you like it and put it on a paper towel or something. Retain maybe two tablespoons of the grease in your pot and add a quick little swish of olive oil. Dump in all the veggies (not the peas!), the seasonings and let them sweat a little. Until it smells your kitchen up. (I love that part!)

Dump in broth and peas and bring to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes. Then reduce to a simmer until the peas are tender. The shut it down and let it cool for a few minutes.

Whip out your blender or food processor. Fill it about 2/3 full with the mixture and puree the heck out of it. Continue until it is all pureed.

Put it back into your soup pot, bring it up to almost a boil.

Serve with bacon and sour cream for garnish.

Categories: Holidays, PPP, Recipes
Tags: cooking, entertaining, halloween, Holidays, kitchen, kitchen tools, PPP, Thanksgiving