I cooked up some of our pinto beans…I just couldn’t let them sit in their bucket any longer!  Nothing is nicer than fresh pinto beans!

Lots of time the pinto beans on the store shelves are at least two years old or older.  The darker the pinto bean the older the pinto bean is…a fresh or one year old pinto bean is light in color and takes only a couple of hours to soak.  Older pinto beans have to soak over-night before they have reached a level by which they can be cooked and eaten.

Once you eat a fresh pinto bean you will understand what you have been missing—tender, moist, non-mealy, yummm.

When  I was growing up pinto beans were cooked with ham, then served on the plate by themselves and the ham with a bread, with chopped onions on top.  My Momma was a southern girl, who was raised in New Mexico so our family enjoyed a nice mix of Texas, New Mexican (and yes there is a difference) and Colorado food. (Daddy was born in California but was raised right here in our part of Colorado).

We had pinto beans and bread for one meal…usually Monday.  After that we had pinto bean sandwiches for lunch, pinto beans as a side dish, then maybe a break from them, then pinto beans in a stew or a soup, and sometimes as baked beans.

I still do the same.  Although, Terry isn’t fond of the whole plate of pinto bean meal, I am.  I grew up that way so of course I still like it.  I also served my growing family pretty much the same way as my Momma did, only I have since added in pinto beans in my tacos or as tostadas. 

I like to smash the beans and pour ketchup on them.  Terry puts on picanti sauce.

When I went to school the school hot lunches would feature pinto beans in some sort of nasty butter sauce…I still don’t like it, but others might.

I’m sure there are lots of good ideas out there maybe some of my followers would like to leave all of us a recipe or two.

The sun is shining today and the air feels fresh and clean…

Your farming friend,

Linda