Simple Fare

My lighting was poor so the photo isn't great, but I love the way this looks when it first starts to boil. I throw in a few cups of dried pinto beans, some fresh garlic chopped and a large whole onion chopped, some dried red pepper, garlic and onion powder, cayenne, chili pepper and cumin. Then a half stick of real butter, a tablespoon of salt and let it come to a boil. I added the seasons a couple min after putting it on so it was near a boil and the seasons didn't sink and dissolve so I took a picture.

My kids call this poor food,-though nicer to say simple fare- beans and home-made brown bread. We eat the two together for any meal of the day, or a snack. We use a lot of pinto beans in many of our meals, we love Mexican food. I prefer to make my own beans and refried beans and we use dry beans for chili. Its cheaper and better for you, less additives.

Beans must have fat, in my opinion, to turn out well. The fat brings out the flavor, some people use lard, others use fatback or bacon. We like bacon or butter. Margarine wont do the job quite as well.

I read a article yesterday about the economy and job losses. There was a woman in the article who said she has to use a food closet now for her groceries. She was glad that she received groceries other than pinto beans one pick up day because she has 10 bags already and has no idea how to cook dry beans. It made me think of sharing my recipe! I am sure she wont be reading it... But its still a great recipe!