The Front Porch Swing

[OHhappychicks]

We use either a ham shank left over from a bone in ham. We put those in the freezer till time for beans. Thats my favorite. Or I use a smoked ham shank because it has more meat than ham hocks. This way everyone gets beans and some tatsty bits. Third choice for me would be ham hocks One big or two small ones.

I use onions sauted in just a little bit of olive oil in the bottom of the pan... Chopped small so they disappear. Then Beans and (meat on bone). I dont soak the beans just put em in to simmer. I dont season with salt and pepper till they are almost done. Keeps the beans together. I taste the juice about an hour before they are done then season. I use granulated garlic too but have to be sparing with it because Grandma is VERY particular about how her beans are cooked.

She was born in 1916 on her family farm in Colorado. Her Dad Farmed Pinto beans....

So they pretty much lived on em most of the year. So cooking method has to be her way or the highway. I added in the onions and garlic. but dont mention them to her and she does like my beans.

deb

Ooo! Sounds good! I love old time recipes and the history behind family recipes. I soaked mine for about 3 hrs, then put them on low. I wish I had thought to saute the onions first. I always saute my onions before I add them! I am going to add some garlic powder and I thought for a change I would brown some of the best sausage I've ever had, home grown, and add it instead of ham hocks. I'm seem always to be looking for a better recipe for my beans. Everyone elses seem to taste better than mine. I searched recipes this morn and ran across a few that used a spoon of peanut butter in theirs', so I added a little, will let you all know how it tastes. I won't tell grandma! So she is 98??!! Awesome! My MIL passed in October last year. She was 97, would've been 98 in February. Thanks for sharing!

 

[OHhappychicks]

Well here's a picture of my son about a week or so ago with the ducklings. I'm from Oregon, but meet my husband in, and live, in Northern California.

Awwww!! so precious!!

 

[tntchix]

LJ, I agree....it sure does work to have a man around to handle mechanics, contractors, etc. Why is it that men~in this day and age~think women cannot handle such things and so they just talk over top of you or try to bully you into things? I hate confrontation but the good Lord has blessed me with the ability to do so effectively when need be...but I'd love it if I just didn't have to act like a man and shame another man just to get a point across. It's unbecoming of a lady to have to do so, but they just force one to!

Just had this issue when we had to fire an unscrupulous roofing contractor for failing to start the job on time...twice. He was one of those with word diarrhea and would talk over top of you to try and bully you with words. Kept telling us how much he tithes at his church like that was some kind of badge of his integrity and dependability....it left the taste of puke in my mouth. At one point I had to say, "George, focus! We want to cancel this job and we've told you why, so pony up our money and we'll meet you in town bright and early for the check!" Then he started hem hawing about being able to give the money back and I had to bring him up sharp about that as well. I think he thought that he would get away with taking a little old lady's money and it would be easy but he didn't count on her daughter...and the Lord.

In the end, I just prayed that night and prayed the next morning for help from the Lord in this issue and the Lord did indeed shut the lion's mouth! George was mannerly, quiet and pleasant...not a bit like he was the day before...and he coughed up all the money he was supposed to refund. We took the check straight to the bank~which was our bank too~and the teller withdrew it directly from his account and placed it right into ours. We breathed a huge sigh of relief and thanked the Lord once again....escaped from the clutches of the evil one and He shut the lion's mouth for us, praise Him to the highest!

Good on ya. My builders were wonderful until my hubs went on a business trip. Then it was, hey, we can't make it today. Why they think they can screw us around is beyond me. We are usually the ones cutting the check anyway.

 

[Beekissed]

Good on ya. My builders were wonderful until my hubs went on a business trip. Then it was, hey, we can't make it today. Why they think they can screw us around is beyond me. We are usually the ones cutting the check anyway.

Exactly. Our money spends as good as a man's does.

We are getting a real toad strangler of a rain right now....what a blessing! We needed rain anyway, though we prefer the steady soaking type rains to the incredible, forceful downpours but we'll take it any way we can get it and be grateful!

Don't you guys just LURV the smell of Murphy's Oil Soap??

Just used it to mop a wood floor and it reminds me of childhood, our old church, of grandma's house all wrapped up into one....love it!

Today we organized and cleaned our inside back porch which is just a storage area. It felt so good to get things cleaned out, eliminated, sorted into appropriate places and labeled for easier finding later on. We had bought some white wash tubs from Walmart for $2.87 ea. because they were the perfect size to fit on the shelves and you can write on them, so now everything is safely contained in tubs instead of falling on our heads or off the shelf at inopportune moments. I absolutely LOVE having a place for everything and everything in its place!!!! It makes my soul feel good!

Now...just to keep it there.......

This really needed to be done for Mom's sake and now also for mine....we are starting to "lose" things when we can't remember where we put them. Now everything has a place, I'm hoping everything will find its place as we chore through our days.

We also cleaned out that one drawer in the kitchen...you know the one...the catch all, tool drawer that gets so heavy that you can barely pull it out to look for things. We took it down to a bare nothing, reinforced the corners where the heaviness of the tools had compromised it and have resolved to place no more heavy tools in that drawer. We'll see how that goes....

It feels good to smooth out the wrinkles of one's life....organizing, sorting, eliminating and cleaning does these things for us and we seem to walk lighter on our feet when it's all done. I'll often keep returning to the scene of the crime and gaze with satisfaction at the neatness and order, with gladness in my heart.

How about you all? Spring cleaning make you feel good?

 

[enola]

Bee I could use some of that rain down here. My hay man said he cut hay this week that was wilting before he cut it down. ....

 

[IAFarmGirl]

Haven't been on for a couple of months but just had to share some of the new fuzzies that came yesterday afternoon. We have 15 broilers and 5 BBW Poults. Got them home from the Post Office and settled in just in time for a big storm to come roaring through. Some areas within 30 miles of us had up to 7 inches of rain, baseball size hail and winds up to 104 mph. Surprisingly damage was pretty minimal considering the size and duration of the storm. God thankfully saw fit to spare my garden and just gave us about 2 inches of rain. The garden still looks great and we are hopeful for a good harvest. Enjoy the pics!

 

[TexasLisa]

Quote:

Well here's a picture of my son about a week or so ago with the ducklings. I'm from Oregon, but meet my husband in, and live, in Northern California.

How adorable!!! Did you make the quilt out of bluejeans? I have one made out of my husband, 2 children, and my jeans. Some of the jeans came from when I was pregnant.

**********

Here is one of my favorite recipe for beans:

RED BEANS AND RICE

l lb dry red kidney beans (I have used pinto)
2 t garlic salt
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t hot pepper sauce (I use more)
1 qt. water
1/2 lb fully cooked ham, diced
1/2 lb. fully cooked smoked sausage, diced
1 c chopped onion
1/2 c chopped celery
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
2 bay leaves
1/4 c minced fresh parsley
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
Hot cooked rice

Place beans in a Dutch oven or kettle; add water to cover by 2". Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 1 hour. Drain beans and discard liquid. Add garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute ham and sausage until lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon to bean mixture. Saute onion, celery and garlic in drippings until tender; add to the bean mixture. Stir in tomato sauce and bay leaves. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until beans are tender. Discard bay leaves. Measure 2 cups of beans; mash and return to the bean mixture. Stir in parsley, salt and pepper. Serve over rice. Garnish with parsley if desired.

Lisa

 

[Alice28]

Quote:
How adorable!!!  Did you make the quilt out of bluejeans?  I have one made out of my husband, 2 children, and my jeans.  Some of the jeans came from when I was pregnant.

**********

Here is one of my favorite recipe for beans:

RED BEANS AND RICE

l lb dry red kidney beans  (I have used pinto)
2 t garlic salt
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t hot pepper sauce  (I use more)
1 qt. water
1/2 lb fully cooked ham, diced
1/2 lb. fully cooked smoked sausage, diced
1 c chopped onion
1/2 c chopped celery
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
2 bay leaves
1/4 c minced fresh parsley
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
Hot cooked rice

Place beans in a Dutch oven or kettle; add water to cover by 2".  Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 1 hour.  Drain beans and discard liquid.  Add garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, and water; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute ham and sausage until lightly browned.  Remove with a slotted spoon to bean mixture.  Saute onion, celery and garlic in drippings until tender; add to the bean mixture.  Stir in tomato sauce and bay leaves.  Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until beans are tender.  Discard bay leaves.  Measure 2 cups of beans; mash and return to the bean mixture.  Stir in parsley, salt and pepper.  Serve over rice.  Garnish with parsley if desired.

Lisa

I didn't make the quilt, it was a gift I got a long time ago. I did make an apron for him and his cousin to wear at there lemonade stand. Made it out of two pair of jeans I had with holes. And yum to beans! Writing it down to try!

 

[Beekissed]

Bee I could use some of that rain down here. My hay man said he cut hay this week that was wilting before he cut it down. ....

The hay was wilting???

I've never seen that! I've seen the corn curling with wilt during a drought but never saw the hay wilting...that's bad.

Haven't been on for a couple of months but just had to share some of the new fuzzies that came yesterday afternoon. We have 15 broilers and 5 BBW Poults. Got them home from the Post Office and settled in just in time for a big storm to come roaring through. Some areas within 30 miles of us had up to 7 inches of rain, baseball size hail and winds up to 104 mph. Surprisingly damage was pretty minimal considering the size and duration of the storm. God thankfully saw fit to spare my garden and just gave us about 2 inches of rain. The garden still looks great and we are hopeful for a good harvest. Enjoy the pics!

Good to see you!!! Chicks galore on this thread!!! I'm so very glad your garden and place was spared.....I was just reading about that storm and the hail. God is so good to His children, is He not?

 

[Beekissed]

Getting driveway graveled.....all quarter mile of it. Had a culvert put in one spot and now the gravel....lots of things happening here today that have been put off for so very long due to lack of dollars. God has blessed us with an abundance right now so we can fix things that have long needed fixing on this old house and place. I praise Him for it!