Ham and bean soup.

Last night when this was cooling on the porch, I hard a funny noise outside. A raccoon was trying to climb up onto the chair it was sitting on- presumably to eat the contents. I shooed him away and brought the pot in and put it in the refrigerator after cleaning it off. Either the poor guy must be really hungry, or my soup just smelled that terrific :) I made the biscuits last night, too, and froze 'em. worked pretty well. I guess I have another 'cook ahead' idea. Biscuits are pretty easy to make, though, so I'm not sure I'll be using that idea in the near future. Ham and Bean Soup take one meaty ham bone, and put it in a big pot. add water until the bone is covered with water. add 2 medium onions, chopped, a few stalks of celery, chopped, a few cloves of garlic, minced, a few medium potatoes, peeled and diced, and a couple of diced carrots. add a pound of rinsed-and-picked over dry beans and some salt, a bay leaf,pepper, and spicy condiment of your choice (I used some hot sauce, but worchestershire sauce and crushed red pepper are also nice) bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer covered for a few hours. remove the bay leaf and discard. take out the ham bone, let cool somewhat, and remove the ham from the bone and put it in the pot. you can also take some of the beans out and smash them to give the soup more texture. I think this soup is best cooled and refrigerated, and reheated the next day. Biscuits: (if you are baking these right away, preheat the oven to 450 F. If not, don't :>) whisk together: 2 cups flour 2.5 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt Blend in with your fingers or a pastry cutter: 6 TB cold butter, cut into small pieces (I used margarine and they turned out fine. they taste alot better made with butter, though) when the flour and butter have amalgamated somewhat (you dont want them blended, you just want to sort of push the flour into the butter, and vice versa), add 3/4 cup of milk. mix with a spoon, and when everything is blended, flour your hands, gather it into a ball, and knead it gently against the side of the bowl until all the flour has been incorporated. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface, and roll out until it is about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch thick. cut with a metal biscuit cutter or cookie cutter. to freeze, place on a baking sheet, and place in freezer. when biscuits are partially frozen, put them in bags, seal out the air, and keep in freezer. I don't know how long they last there, but I imagine even freezer-burnt homemade biscuits are better than the "whack on the counter" variety. bake @ 450 for 10-12 minutes, or browned nicely on the tops.