“If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it.” ~ Andy Rooney
Annie Bassoni and I decided to split a CSA this summer. Neither of us like kale, so poor Crystal Heis has been inundated with more kale than she can eat. She was glad when it stopped coming. A week or so now we’ve been getting green beans. I love them, but I’ve never had luck cooking them. Of course, it’s been thirty years since I last tried. My mother, on the other hand, makes the best green beans in the world. In fact, she makes the only green beans Annie has ever eaten and liked. I asked mom how to make her famous green beans. We decided to have a cooking class when she came to town today. She carefully instructed me on the finer points of guessing, I mean measuring out, the oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. She brought with her the key ingredient: smoked jowl. The house smells of summer as the green goodness cooks down to the perfect texture. Now, here’s hoping I remember how to guess, I mean measure, those ingredients for the next batch. It will certainly be no reflection on mom’s good teaching skills if I don’t. I might also need to remember to continually add water. I’ll tell that story some other time.
Shirley Terry
All I can say is: We had some fun cooking those beans!!!!!