Even if you don't like peas that much - like me - I think you will love this dish. It is very rich. I made a double recipe for 10 people for Thanksgiving and still had quite a bit left over, so I think a single recipe would suffice unless you want leftovers, which I did! The recipe below is a single recipe. INGREDIENTS: 4 slices bacon, chopped 1/2 cup chopped white or yellow onion 1 Tbsp flour 2 1/2 cups drained peas (Use Le Sueur brand - silver & black label they're baby peas - don't use sodium reduced variety unless necessary. You will need one 15 oz can and one small can, if available, otherwise get two 15 oz cans) 1 cup light cream or Half and Half (non-fat is okay) 2 cups fresh sliced button mushrooms (or 1 large can, approx 8 oz, bits and pieces or slices) 2 Tbl butter (only if cooking mushrooms) Salt and pepper DIRECTIONS: 1. Partially fry bacon. 2. Add onion to bacon and cook until golden and bacon is slightly crisp. 3. Add flour to bacon and onion and blend, stir to incorporate. 4. Add cream and cook until thickening starts, stirring often. 5. If using raw mushrooms, separately cook mushrooms in the butter (approx 5 minutes). If using canned mushrooms, omit this step and omit the butter and procede to next step. 6. Add peas and mushrooms to mixture and heat, being careful not to boil or scald. 7. Season with salt and pepper to taste. MARK'S TIPS: For the bacon, just peel off (all together) the appropriate number of strips of bacon and cut perpendicularly in widths similar to your thumbnail. Don't worry about separating them at this point - they will do that themselves during frying. For a double recipe, if using canned mushrooms, I use 1 large can and 1 small can - that is plenty. For a double recipe for the peas, I believe I used 4 or 5 15-ounce cans. If you measure out 5 cups and have some left over in another can, just toss them in and add a little more cream. To make this dish vegetarian, just omit the bacon and sautee the onion in 2 Tbsp REAL butter. Once the onions have cooked down a little, add the flour and stir and continue to cook for a couple of minutes more before adding the cream. You can prepare this the night before and heat it up in the microwave later. The dish is meant to be just a little "soupy" so if, after heating or re-heating, the mixture appears too thick, add a little more cream or water. Or you can leave it a little thicker, which is what I usually do so the cream doesn't run into my other food on the plate. Of course, you could also put them in a separate small dish, but who wants to wash all those additional dishes? In general, this recipe is pretty forgiving, so feel free to make adjustments to your preference, i.e., more or less bacon, mushrooms, onion, etc., or omit some of those, as desired. Mark McGinness Oklahoma City Rev. 20150721 Don't miss St. Elijah Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church's HUGE annual Mediterranean food festival every late October/ early November. Go mark your calendar now and listen to the radio and TV or check their website or call the Church directly for dates & times. Be sure to take the Church tour and see the exquisite Byzantine iconography. Many of the members make delicious desserts like this that are for sale in the "Culinary Cupboard," but they almost sell out the first day, so go early the first day of the festival for the best selection. http://www.stelijahokc.com On Facebook, search for "St. Elijah Annual Food Festival" http://www.antiochian.org http://www.ancientfaith.com 405-755-7804 SE corner of NW 150th and N. May Ave. And don't forget their sister church's festival every September: Greekfest at St. George Greek Orthodox Christian Church West side of N. Pennsylvania Ave. at NW 145th St. http://www.saintgeorgeokc.org/ http://greekfestokc.com/ http://www.goarch.org 405-751-1885 For great Mediterranean food like you get at the festival, eat at Nunu's Mediterranean Cafe and Market on westbound Memorial, 1/4 mile west of the May intersection. Nunu is a member of St. Elijah's as are most of the employees and I used to cook there - tell them I sent you. Warning - if you go during peak hours you'll have a good wait because the place is very popular. Saturdays are always busy and they are closed on Sunday. Hours: Mon-Sat: 11am-8pm, closed Sunday.