When I was growing up, beans were a way of life. They were not only at every meal but, I think, achieved cult status in my family. And that was a good thing! My mother had 10 mouths to feed on a very low budget. As I look back I think she must have been so relieved that we all liked beans so much, for if we hadn’t, it would have made life even more difficult for her. And to this day, when the kids come to visit, all we want is beans. Well, maybe, a little chili, too. And this dish was always always a treat.

Frijoles de la olla (beans from the pot) refers to beans that are freshly cooked. In my family beans were cooked twice a week. My mother cooked a big olla. We always had our beans refried as a side dish, ok, maybe a main dish, and with every meal. Except when she cooked a fresh pot. On that day, we all knew what was for dinner. Beans with their broth, simply salted, and sprinkled with diced red onion and cilantro. And tortillas. I don’t really understand the chemistry behind freshly cooked beans and reheated beans but there is a difference. When beans are freshly cooked, they are sweet and plump and succulent and just gorgeous!

Since my household consists of my daughter and myself, I make one small pot (about 2 cups dried) a week. Beans are not at every meal but we do eat a lot of bean and cheese burritos for lunch, and my daughter likes her frijoles de la olla with a fried egg and sprinkled with fresh oregano. Ok, I let her deviate from the tradition… This week is different. My fiancé arrives on Friday and I need to make sure there are enough cooked beans in the house! Normally I just cook my weekly beans with a couple of bay leaves. I like to keep the flavor simple since I never know what they might be accompanying. But today I decided to make him a pot of my festive beans! And I just couldn’t resist eating a bowl straight from the olla…

Festive Beans:

• 2 1/2 cups pinto beans
• one yellow onion, peeled and quartered
• 2 chipotles in adobo (they keep forever, open a tin, and store the unused amount in a glass jar in your refrigerator)
• 3 bay leaves
• 6 cups of water
• finely chopped red onion
• finely chopped fresh cilantro

1. Rinse your beans.
2. Place all ingredients in a pot, I prefer a clay pot.
3. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer for about 2 hours. (Cooking time depends on the age of the beans, so make sure to keep an eye on them. One burnt bean can ruin the whole pot!)
4. Give the occasional stir and make sure they always remain covered with about 2 inches of water.
5. They are ready when soft. Salt to taste.
6. Ladle into a bowl, sprinkle with onions and cilantro. Serve with warm tortillas.

Boomtown Rats, I don\’t like Mondays

Mondays are always brutal. Work, food shopping, laundry, errands, cleaning and planning for the week, catching up on reading. My daughter is with her father Sunday and Monday so those two days are both catch up and get ahead days. And if I’m lucky, I can squeeze in a dinner and film with friends. If I’m a good mommy and do my chores, the week goes smoothly and I can bake and prance and “make art” with my daughter till her heart’s content. If I’m naughty, we both suffer as I struggle to juggle life and all its demands. So I have learned my lesson and happily spend a good part of Monday organizing and planning.

Laundry and cleaning are endless tasks. I have learned to put away all folded laundry because if I don’t, as soon as my daughter sees it, up it goes into the air. A very charming habit but having clean clothes strewn around the house kind of defeats the purpose of clean clothes! As for cleaning, it is easier and faster without the help of my little assistant, though I do save some tasks for her. She loves to rinse the bathtub with the removable shower head and spray mommy. And then there is the food shopping and menu planning for the week. Always an enjoyable activity.

I am Mexican so beans play a very important part in my diet. As the youngest in a family of eight I grew up eating beans twice a day. As I look back, many of the meals my mother prepared that I always thought were weirdly funny, I now realize where her attempt to fill the bellies of a household of ten on a factory workers salary. She always served enchiladas with spaghetti and beans, lasagna with beans, eggs scrambled with green beans and beans, eggs in a red chile sauce and beans, nopales and potatoes with beans… beans beans beans. And my all time favorite, bean tacos! Beans are delicious, nutritious, versatile, and a variety is commonly on offer at your local grocery store. In fact, on my wedding day, my mother gave me a set of bean pots in assorted sizes. So on Mondays the first thing I do when I get home from work and errands is to cook a pot of beans. Once cooked and stored in the refrigerator, they can quickly be heated for a bean and cheese burrito, scrambled with eggs, or served plain to my hungry girl while I make dinner.

And lastly, I make paper cutouts of snakes, turtles, birds, and cats from brown shopping bags. It will be raining all week and indoor activities are an absolute must. So I am prepared for finger painting and “making art.”