It's time to become re-accustomed to cold weather, and there's nothing that helps ease that transition better than bowls of homemade soup.

Pea soup, for me, is a natural choice. It's inexpensive. It's easy to make. And it helps me remember that I should never judge anything by what it looks like.

Pea soup is not pretty. It's a bowl of thick, green stuff. And it's not a nice, fresh, vibrant green either.

But it tastes beautiful.

I start with dried whole green peas, which is a bit unusual, I think. But I like the texture the pea skins add to the final soup. Traditional Canadian pea soup begins with dried yellow peas, whole or split. But most recipes call for dried green split peas, which break down in the cooking process to create a velvety texture.

I also prefer a minimalist pea soup, just peas, onion, a ham bone and water. That's it.

Sometimes, when I'm feeling fancy, I add a bit of diced carrot.

I make mine on top of the stove, but my good friend Kathleen makes hers in a slow cooker. She puts lots of potato and carrot chunks, and a bit of onion into the cooker then adds some dried green split peas and enough water to cover. Then she sets it to low and lets it cook all day.

The ham bone is not essential, but it is most highly recommended. The next time you cook a ham, just save the bone in the freezer. I have made pea soup without the bone then just added some chopped ham later. That's good, too. You also could use a couple of ham hocks, which are always available in the grocery store, but that will increase the smoky flavor of your soup.

Instead of ham, you could brown some salt pork, bacon or even some chopped kielbasa in your soup pot. Then remove the meat and any fat, and proceed with the soup in that pot. Later, you can add back the browned meat bits.

In my house, what is essential, is a piece of cornbread, preferably grilled, on the side. There's really no better combination of flavors. The slight sweetness of the bread is just a perfect match for the rich, salty soup.

Enjoy!

Jill Blanchette is the multiplatform production manager at The Day. Share comments or recipes with her at j.blanchette@theday.com.

Pea Soup

1 bag of whole green peas

2 large onions, chopped

1 ham bone

Salt and pepper to taste

Open your bag of peas and sort through them to remove anything that isn't a pea. If you didn't remember to soak them overnight, put your peas in a soup pot with 8 cups of water and bring to a boil. Boil hard for 2 minutes then turn off the heat and let the peas steep for 1 hour.

In the meantime, take a look at your ham bone. You want to have meat on the bone, but not too much. During the cooking process, the bone and any meat attached to it are going to give everything they have to flavor the broth. So trim off and chop up any large chunks of meat and save that to add to the soup later.

After the peas have soaked, drain off the water and put the peas back into the pot. Add the bone, nestling it down a bit into the peas, and add the onion. Then add enough water to nearly cover the bone. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until the peas are tender. Check a few of them because there's always some that take longer to soften.

When the peas are tender, remove the ham bone and set it aside to cool. Let the soup continue to simmer until the peas have broken down and the soup has thickened. If your soup gets too thick, just add a bit more water.

When the bone is cool enough to handle, pick off all the remaining meat and set it aside. Throw away the bone and anything you don't want to add to the soup.

When the soup has reached your desired consistency, taste it and add salt and pepper until it's seasoned the way you like. Then add the meat and serve.