Beans

Well as I've said before, the culinary arts are not my strong point. I have improved since my early marriage when Hamburger Helper was my best friend, and every now and again I will surprise even myself and make a meal that is rather tasty. But these meals are really few and far between. Luckily I have been blessed with a husband and children (for the most part) that either have very few tastebuds, or are just too nice to complain.

I have many stories of disasterous cooking moments. For example, once when I was a college student I attempted cinnamon rolls (three times). After messing up on two batches I was sure the third batch of rolls would taste delicious. These rolls looked and smelled delightful as I pulled them out of the oven. I was even impressed that they had a slight sheen to them. Maybe the sugar melted just right and made them look glossy, I thought. Well I soon discovered that you must first remove the plastic wrap that covers the rolls as they raise before putting them in the oven. Apparently, plastic wrap melts in the oven. Huh, who would have guessed. I don't think I've tried cinnamon rolls since.

I have also burned more meals then I'd like to mention. Another time when I was in college (yes, I learned more than academics in college) I set off the entire dorms' fire alarms by burning a pot of potatoes. I actually forgot about the boiling potatoes and left the room to study. However, I was quickly reminded about the potatoes when I heard the alarms. The entire dorm was evacuated and the firemen lectured me for quite a while that night.

I burned these potatoes so badly that there was actually a hole about the size of a potato in the bottom of the pan. Who knew a metal pan could actually burn right through?

My roommate walking home from a class saw the smoke and the firemen immediately thought, Becky burned down Castilija (I'm serious, she told me). I can't figure out why she would have thought it was me. To top it all off I was even awarded a "Let's burn down Castalija" certificate at the end of the year.

Jason will attest that I like to burn food, but luckily, again, I was blessed with a husband who actually likes burned food. He actually fights over burned food with his siblings. His mother taught him well.

I will now get to the point of writing this blog. Last night I decided to try ham and bean soup with our left over ham from Easter. How hard could it be? I found a recipe and it seemed quite easy actually. Just soak the beans, add the ham bone thing, let it simmer, add some onions, celery, a few spices and voila, a perfect ham and bean soup.

Six and a half hours later I still couldn't figure out why my beans were crunchy. Did you all know that beans that are 10 years old (yeah I used some food storage beans) don't cook well? Well I didn't and I must say, I once again ruined a perfectly good meal. I don't think I will try ham and bean soup again.