Ham-tastic!

Split Pea and Ham Soup for a Cold December Night
Ham from Christmas dinner? There's nothing wrong with that. I glazed an eight pound ham with an orange juice, brown sugar, and honey mixture to create a sweet-and-salty-meaty masterpiece. As delicious as it was, there's only so much ham four people can eat. Thus the creation of a savory cold-weather solution to an abundance of ham became necessary. I love split pea soup. It's simple to throw to together and perfect for post-Christmas dinner . . . a good respite from holiday over-indulgence.

Ingredients
- 2 qts. chicken broth
- 2 c. dried split peas
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 meaty leftover ham bone
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- salt and pepper
- 3 stalks celery, trimmed and diced
- 2 c. diced leftover ham

Heat olive oil over medium and cook onions and garlic until softened and translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Add celery and cook until softened, about 3 minutes longer. Add chicken broth, thyme sprigs, ham bone, and split peas. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low. Cover and simmer for about an hour until peas are softened. Remove Dutch oven from stove and remove ham bone and thyme sprigs. With an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth and thick. Cut excess meat from bone into bite-sized chunks and add to soup with additional diced ham. Discard bone and season soup with salt and pepper to taste. Eat with bread.