Yellow Split Pea Soup

I had gotten a request for a good soup and this was one I really liked. It's nice and hearty but lightened by the addition of the corn.

Yellow Split Pea Soup
4-5 slices bacon
2 cloves garlic
1 medium sized onion
1 large (or 2 small) carrots
1 large yam
8 leaves of fresh sage (1 heaping teaspoon chopped)
1 1/2 cups yellow split peas
1 1/2 tsp cumin
2 cups (approximately) corn
5-8 cups chicken or vegetable stock

Cut the bacon into thins strips. Cook in dutch oven or soup pot. Cook until the bacon is nicely browned and a lot of the fat is rendered. Take the bacon out of the pan and reserve for either garnish or adding back into the soup at the end. Drain off most of the oil from the pan, leaving about 1 tbs. Cut all the vegetables into about a 1/4 " dice- it's only soup, it doesn't need to be perfect just all about the same size. Put the vegetables into the pan (which should now be on a medium low heat) and continue to cook until they begin to soften. At this point add about 1 tsp of salt. Add the sage, cumin and split peas and cook for a few minutes until it becomes fragrant. Now add your stock and you can add only 5 cups if you like your soup really thick or 8 cups if you like it thinner... you can always add more as it cooks if you need to. Even with the 8 cups as the split peas cook they will thicken the soup. Put on a simmer and cook until the split peas are tender, adding the corn towards the end of cooking. Check the soup for seasoning, it will need a little black pepper and probably some more salt. If the soup tastes flat and doesn't seem to have a lot of flavor add salt a little at a time until it does, you can either add all the bacon back in or you can use it as a garnish for the top. This soup freezes well.