Dying to Start a New Quilt

After watching all those great quilts Pat had, I am just dying to start a new quilt.  I will work that out by standing in my room and looking at everything I have to finish before I get anything else going.

I cooked dinner, mayhaps you want to know how to make a Southern favorite, Red Beans and Rice.

OK.

Buy a package of red beans.  I use Camellia, cheap enough, easy to find, good quality beans.  Rinse them off, and pick out the broken or discolored beans and toss them.  Sometimes you will find a tiny stone in there, so make sure you rinse the beans and just look at them.

Get  a dutch oven, add the dry beans and cover with about 1 -2 inches of tap water.  My mother would put garlic in the water to flavor the beans and my aunt would use some broth.  Bring the water to a boil, and turn off.  Let the beans sit for about 2 hours until they re-hydrate themselves and swell up big and fat!  My mother would let them sit overnight, but onnce they are hydrated they are fine.

Drain all the liquid and rinse the beans once again.  Using a clean dutch oven, add olive or canola oil and heat.  Add a medium onion and a bell pepper chopped, ham seasoning, some garlic chopped up and saute until clear.  Add the beans back to the pot along with some liquid and a tablespoon of ketchup for sweetness.  I use chicken  broth here.

Do not add anything with salt in it because the beans will be hard.  I sometimes add a bit of ginger for digestion.  In India they make a wonderful dish using red beans and cinnamon.  Sounds weird but it is pretty good.

Cook on low heat for about 2 hours.  Watch it carefully so as to not burn the bottom.  If it burns you might as well toss the whole pot, you will never get that taste out of the beans!

Ask me how I know.......

Once the beans are soft and cooked through, get out your potato masher and smash about 1/2 to 3/4 of the beans to get a creamy yummy pot of beans.  Add some additional liquid if you need to.  I add Nature's Seasonings at this point.  It is a mixture of salt, pepper, onion/garlic salt, parsley, celery seed.  If you like it spicy add some cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce.  Frank always adds Tabasco when he fills his plate.

Boil up some white rice.  I get a crusty bread and make garlic bread with lots of butter or olive oil and a nice salad of tomatoes and mozzarella pearls.  And my fabulous balsamic fruit vinegar!