Winter Bean Soup Mix

1/3 cup dried yellow split peas
1/3 cup dried green split peas
1/3 cup dried lima beans
1/3 cup dried pinto beans
1/3 cup dried kidney beans
1/3 cup dried great northern beans
1/4 cup instant minced onion
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Layer all ingredients in a 1-pint glass jar. Store tightly covered at room temperature up to 2 months.

On gift tag put recipe for Winter Bean Soup Mix as follows:
8 cups water
Winter Bean Soup Mix
2 medium carrots, chopped (1 cup)
2 medium stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
2 pounds smoked ham shanks or meaty ham bone

Heat water and Winter Bean Soup Mix to boiling in 4-quart Dutch oven. Boil 2 minutes; remove from heat. Cover and let stand 1 hour.

Stir carrots and celery into bean mixture. Add ham shanks. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 2 hours or until beans are tender.

Skim fat if necessary. Remove ham shanks; remove ham from bone. Trim excess fat from ham. Cut ham into 1/2-inch pieces. Stir ham into soup. Heat until hot.

Makes 6 gift jars (about 1 1/2 cups each)