Split Pea and Granola Bars: A much-needed day off.

I happened to have about eight hours of unexpected, weekday free time yesterday. It was amazing! I kept thinking, is this how the other half lives? I would gladly give up my feminist schtick and be a housewife if it meant I could do this every day. It didnt hurt that it was 70 degrees and sunny, and that I live next to a huge park. In any case, Lorenzo got some quality time and I finally got to do some cooking for myself.

Did you know that I am a super-exclusive, top secret recipe tester for the Holy of Holies, Cooks Illustrated? Not so top secret any more. Once in a while they send me recipes in development--some of which are kind of odd-- and I get to test them and suggest improvements. I imagine all the food scientists in their lab, poring over my comments-- "my god, she's right! A little sherry vinegar IS what this dish needs! Once again, she saves the day."

This time it was split pea and ham soup. I am a big fan of soups in general, and this one felt appropriately springy. Plus, I got to buy my green split peas in bulk from the Park Slope Foodie Militia-- which made me feel pretty hard core. Sometimes I spy on the hippies scooping some of the more obscure legumes from those bins and I wonder what they could possibly be cooking in their communes. Who uses groats, really? It's like some kind of rogue legume club. Which I am now a part of.

Anyway, I made the delicious soup. Even without the bacon I forgot, it was still pretty heavy on the ham (I know there's a joke in there, but I am going to let it go). I was also fascinated and grossed out this morning when I saw the soup had formed into a solid green mass in the fridge-- kind of like an opaque jello salad. I may have enjoyed this part more than the actual soup.

I also took the opportuntity to help my friend carbo-load for her upcoming marathon. These granola bars from my new favorite food blogger were absolutely addictive. So much so that I kept calling pieces of the batch "burnt" so that I could eat them. I put in cherries, slivered almonds, and peanut butter, but I could easily see pistachio, hazelnuts, and chocolate chips being  just as yummy.

And by the way, there is nothing "healthy" about these granola bars, or any others, for that matter--they include butter, sugar, molasses, corn syrup, and peanut butter. But did you know that nuts are good for you?