Weekend recipe: split pea soup (AND GIVEAWAY)

Sorry this is long overdue, but when you're unemployed it can be hard to sort the weekday from the weekend.
I kid, of course. I'm spending as much time chasing after a toddler and applying for jobs, as I would at a regular 9-to-5. I'm also cooking again. Hooray!
It's kind of weird whipping up a meal in unfamiliar environs. We're living temporarily with my father-in-law, who is a wonderful, wise, witty man and a steadfast patriarch. But he is not a cook.
In fact, his rule of measure is that he won't make anything that takes longer than seven minutes — start to finish.
And with my regular arsenal cookware in storage, I'm a bit fumbly. But I broke in my culinary habitat with a big pot of split pea soup. It always makes me feel at home.
Plus, the weather in Atlanta was awful. Our first week was cold and cold and just plain cold. Perfect soup weather.
So, I will share my recipe for warmth with, y'all.
AND, get yourself a little Christmas. How does this sound: a $35 promotional shopping code at CSN Stores (an online emporium of more than 200 Web sites where you can find furniture, kitchen ware, leather messenger bags, baby gear and all kinds of stuff )?
Comment below and let me know what soup warms your wintry cockles. I'll select one comment randomly and announce the winner on Friday. That's Christmas Eve, y'all.)

Split pea soup
Time
About an hour and a half
Ingredients and Equipment
- 1 pound bag dried split green peas
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 14-oz cans chicken broth
- 4 cups of water
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon ground dried sage
- 1 teaspoon paprika (not hot)
- 1 package turkey kielbasa (optional)
- soup pot
Directions
- Saute the carrots and garlic in olive oil in the bottom of the soup pot until tender
- Rinse split peas and add to pot. Then pour in chicken broth and water.
- Turn up heat to a boil and then lower to a simmer.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. Add spices.
- Simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Peas should become very tender and nearly melt.
- Slice turkey kielbasa and heat in a saute pan until browned and add to soup.
This stuff is even better the next day. And there will be a next day because this recipe makes a lot.