Pinto Beans (Or "How I Spilled the Beans.")

This blog doesn't always have to be about clothing. Does it? I hope not, because it's a snow day here in the Seattle area, and nothing around here is moving. No new clothing has arrived. I don't think the UPS man is like the mailman ("Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds.") who already came. I haven't seen the UPS guy or his truck for a few days. Maybe they are all stuck in the snowbanks.

All this snow has me interested in staying home! And when I am home, I like to cook. I made some killer pinto beans last night. Now I know pinto beans aren't very exciting, but these turned out so well! I started the day before at the co-op. I spilled the beans all over the floor by accidentally opening the spout wider when I tried to close it. Uh oh. I had to confess to the cashier that I made a mess back there. That was after I tried to laugh it off to the lady standing behind me in the bulk area who was, by this time, looking at me out of the corner of her eyes to see if I was insane. "Oops, he he," I muttered under my breath, chagrined, when I really wanted to scream "Aieeeeeeee!"

Anyway, that night I put a cup of them (dry) into a pan, covered them with water, and brought it to a boil. Then I put the lid on the pan and turned off the heat. The next morning (yesterday) I drained and rinsed the beans. Covered them with water again. Chopped up an onion and put that in. Found some old dried out garlic cloves, peeled those and threw them in. Put on the heat at a slow bubble. The beans started cooking. Soon they began smelling sooooo good. Next thing I knew, there was a lovely gravy going. When I tasted a bean, maybe about 1.5 hours later, it was tender. I added some salt, chili powder, a bit of cumin, and some tomato sauce to the pan and stirred. That's when I knew this dish was gonna be good! Tossed in some chopped red pepper and green onion for good measure (and good photo).



I sprayed nonstick oil into a baking dish and dumped it all in. Let it sit on top of the stove all day, heat and lid off, while I was at work. When I got home, I shredded some really good white Irish cheddar cheese and sprinkled it on top of the beans. Shoved the whole thing into the oven, lid off, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. In the meantime poured some brown rice and water in the rice cooker. Bill seasoned and grilled chicken breasts. I cut up kale and cooked it. Can I just say, I could have eaten the WHOLE casserole of crusty bean bake over the rice by myself. It tasted so good on a snowy night. Bill was NOT as excited as I was about the bean dish, and he was even more adamant about not putting tongue to kale even just to taste it. Fine by me, I got to eat all of the kale myself. Still, I got a lot of satisfaction out of some simple pinto beans. Yummmmmmmmm.

And this, dear readers, sums up my work at Renee's (and my whole life!): take something simple and innocuous such as pinto beans. They are dry, plain, and basically inedible to begin with. Add some clear cool water and heat. Season with love. Voila! You end up with something delicious, nutritious, and good for you. At Renee's take something seemingly plain and "normal," add quality with fine fabrics and top-notch construction, and get something that gives you pleasure every time you wear it. Just. Like. That.

This morning I made granola. Mmmmm. And in the evenings, cocoa--REAL cocoa-- has been our light but yummy-tasting "dessert!"



And that's my cooking story, readers. It's a change-up from the regular clothing post. Hope you are having a good snow day, one and all!!

Sending my love and warmth,

Renee

p.s. I am going to host a soup exchange at Renee's on Wed. Feb. 8. Make your favorite soup, bring it to Renee's hot in a crock pot, and let's do lunch together. If you don't want to cook soup, come anyway. There will be plenty to go around. I'll provide some yummy rye bread from the Russian restaurant next door to go along with the soups. What do you think? Will you make soup? Will you eat soup? Do you like soup? What's your favorite soup? Please post a comment.