Dutch Pea Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb. split green peas
1 medium pig hock, shoulder pork, metworst or ring of beef sausage, sliced
3 qt. water
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 c. celery, diced
3 medium onions, chopped
3 potatoes, diced
other seasonings (if desired)
2 carrots, diced
parsley
1 c. milk
1 lb. hamburger, shaped into balls, prefried and drained

Preparation

Soak peas overnight completely covered with cold water; drain. (If pig hock or shoulder pork is used, cook meat, peas and water for 2 hours.
If metworst or beef sausage ring is used, you can cook all the ingredients at once.
The metworst and beef sausage require no advance cooking.) Just put all ingredients in large kettle and cook until thick, rich and smooth consistency.
(My mom cooked this soup all day with tender loving care and lots of stirring.)
When nearly done, drop the small prefried hamburger balls into the soup and enjoy!