Pea Soup

This is my very first time making pea soup. I have been craving this all week and I have had a ham bone in my freezer just waiting for this day.

Unfortunately, my ham bone is too large for my cooker, so I improvised.

1 lb dries peas
10 baby carrots, coined
1 onion rough chopped
1 clove mince garlic
2 slices of cooked bacon pieces*
1 can chicken broth
4 cups water
salt & ground black pepper to taste

Rinse the peas and put them in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients. I added the fresh ground pepper right away and will taste the soup as it cooks to see how much salt it will need due to the bacon. Cook on slow 10-12 hours.

* My bacon secret I got from Food Network's Melissa d'Arabian. Freeze one pound of bacon. When you need a slice to cook, cut off 1" crosswise from your frozen slab. Cooks into nice bacon pieces without a lot of work.

Note: I found mine soup very bland and today my mother shared her secret - a couple splashes of worcestershire sauce! I will try that next time.