"...i can't buy a bean"

it seems appropriate to start with simple beans...to quote a family member "i'm so poor i can't buy a bean"...now that's poor! well, we eat our share of beans and they are divine...i've been eating beans since as long as my memory goes back...although raised a california girl, i've got southern roots and we had many family meals of a pot of pinto beans, fried okra, fried taters, fresh sliced tomato, and cold "wienies" (hot-dogs). i didn't like the wienies...but i recall warm, fluffy cornbread and cold milk. i haven't eaten that combo since, but it brings back warm memories of sitting at my grandma's table as a child with a glass filled with cornbread and milk.
the beans must be pinto, the fat must be bacon and salt added at the end so the beans are tender. over the years the recipe varies...sauteed onion adds sweetness, whole garlic cloves melt right in once they've cooked, cayenne or a toothpick full (seriously) of "dave's insanity sauce" for a kick, canned green chilies (or roasted poblanos if your serious)...the possibilities are endless.
no matter the additional flavors, every time i make them i feel connected to my momma and grandma wanda who cooked them all the years before me. as a child i could eat bowls and bowls of these beans, with warm flour tortillas, lots of "juice" for me please (bean juice, no dry beans please). i've even made my hubby a bean believer (no "juice" for him though).
thank goodness for beans, rice pilaf and cornbread...no matter whether we have plenty of money or not much...we will always have a nutritious meal and happily full tummies. truth is, we can always at least "buy a bean". its very reassuring... tonight's beans have sauteed onion, carrot (oh so sweet!), green chilies, garlic, bay leaves, parmesan rind, cayenne, salt and black pepper.
i somehow smell fall in the air, even though its mid august and well over 90 out. fall is my favorite season and beans on the stove are perfect for fall...now we just need a big fat pumpkin on the porch

• 
  basic pot '0 beans2 cups dry pinto beans, washed and picked thru


• 6 cups water


• tablespoon bacon drippings


• two garlic cloves, peeled, whole


• 2 TBS brown sugar


• 2 dry bay leaves


• salt & pepper to taste

soak beans overnite, or quick cook (boil for 2 min, and let sit 2 hrs), simmer beans with garlic, brown sugar until beans begin to soften and loose their lines (maybe 1-2 hrs, depending on soaking and your bag of beans), add salt, pepper, bacon drippings to taste. Simmer for as long as needed for your pot of beans to be very tender.
Add any or all these optional yummies: sauteed, carmelized onions (a must for us), carrots, green chilies, roasted garlic, chicken...you get the idea.