I am profoundly, emotionally affected by smells. At the most unexpected time, a smell will instantly take me back to a place, a person, a feeling. The feeling will be like I am right there, swarming around me like a cocoon, feeling just like I did ‘back then’. Fortunately, it mostly happens with pleasant smells.
Every single time, I smell, prepare or eat green beans, I am immediately taken back to my grandma’s (Mama Lottie) kitchen. I am not talking about the healthy, steamed green bean; I am talking about the kind you put ham or bacon in and cook for a long, long time. The smell is heavenly…and the taste is too.
When I was little, Mama would ‘shuck’ her beans. I never knew why she did that; never felt the need to ask. My parents never shucked their green beans. It was just something Mama did. Shucking green beans is a drying process, where you thread a needle with cotton thread, thread the beans on the needle in the center of the bean pod but between the actual beans, pushing to the end of the string. Then you hang them from a hook to dry. I can still see them hanging next to the black telephone on her kitchen wall. My sisters and I would be so impatient, waiting for them to be ready (dry enough) to cook them. Then when it was finally time to cook and eat them, there was never enough…I always wanted more. I never thought about why she prepared beans this way. Now I know Mama got her beans from her garden and it was a way to ‘preserve’ them when you didn’t ‘can’ them. I have included the steps to shucking green beans…in case you ever have too many fresh ones.
Shucked Green BeansInstructions
Things You'll Need:
· Green Beans
· Needle
· Cotton Thread
· Dry, airy area
Step 1: Sort through the green beans and select only the best for drying. Do not try to dry green beans that have rotten, or ones that have holes or other deformations.
Step 2: Do not wash the beans. Take a cloth and wipe off any excess dirt.
Step 3: Thread a needle with cotton thread. Bring the thread through the needle long enough to make a double string about 18 inches to 2 feet long. Tie off the ends.
Step 4: Thread the beans on the needle in the center of the bean pod but between the actual beans. Push to the end of the string.
Step 5: Continue threading the beans until the length is 3/4 full. Either break the tread or cut it off at the end of the needle. Tie off this end.
Step 6: Use the excess thread to make a loop. Hang this loop from a hook or nail in a dry, airy place. The beans are dry when they "crunch" when you try to bend them.
COOKING:
To cook the beans..soak in water overnight in large kettle, pour off the soaking water in the morning and cover the beans w/fresh water, add a couple smoked hocks or what ever smoked meat you have, bring up to boil and then cover and turn down the fire to slow cook about 2 hours, season the way you like them.
