Black Beans

Do you know why in Mexico there are aisles that contain bags of dried beans, but in the states there is only one tiny section for the dry kind? I do now. It's because the average American would not have the patience to deal with what it takes to transform beans from their rocklike state to edible. I tried this weekend. It took almost the whole weekend, too. Friday evening I remembered I had these black beans that were meant for a cold bean salad, so I stuck them in water to soak for 6 hours, like the recipe said. Well, I did that. On Saturday, I realized that I didn't have the ingredients for the salad, so i decided to cook the beans just to have. I put them in a pot with water on low to simmer while I went to Costco (yes there's a Costco here!). I informed Joy that they were cooking before I left. Well, I guess since they had soaked, they didn't need much time. Or the heat was too high... I don't know, but for some reason, while I was gone smoke was billowing out of the pot. Luckily Lindsay had come to the door because poor Joy has had the cold from Hell and can't smell a thing, so she didn't realize what was happening until she came downstairs to get the door.
Needless to say, I threw those away, and our house smelled (smells...?) really really bad.
BUT, if at first you don't succeed.....

So this time I didn't have the patience for soaking. I put them in a pot with water and simmered. It took all day, but I have blackbeans!

Today for breakfast and dinner I at blackbean and rice tacos. :) Go me! I promise to know how to cook lots of new things after my time here!