Split pea soup

Soup season has arrived to the Northeast, and I'm embracing it with complete enthusiasm. This amazing split pea soup was very easy to make, and a significant improvement over any other split pea soup I've ever had. Thanks ATK for the inspiration!

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
6 cups water
12 oz ham steaks
5 slices of bacon
1 pound of split peas
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
black pepper

Preparation
Heat the butter and saute the diced onions with 0.5 tsp salt until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the smashed garlic cloves and cook for 30 seconds.

Rinse the peas and add to the pot along with the water, ham steaks, bacon, thyme and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat for 45 minutes.

Remove ham steaks and bacon and cook soup for another 30 minutes. Remove bay leaves and blend soup until smooth.

Dice bacon and ham and add back into the soup. Season with salt and black pepper.