Friday Music / Part One – Don’t Think Twice – Times 3 ( and the guy that wrote it )

From Melanie – she did things besides roller skating – LOL!

One really GOOD cover from Alice Howe . . .

And of course the folks that took it to the bank . . .

And the author . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

I Really Need More Camera . . .

Just about every morning you get a chance to see what 65,000 feet looks like . . .

The tiny white dot in the approximate center of the pic is the balloon . . .

Zoomed in through software . . .

With a decent pair of binoculars ( and knowing what it is ) you can pretty much tell it is a balloon – if I can convince my ex-son-in-law to trot his happy ass all the way across South Dakota and there is a launch – and – the weather plays nice – maybe I can get you folks a good pic – I am NOT spending a ridiculous ( to me ) sum of money for a camera and a lens as long as my arm for a pic – but that’s just me. I will dig out my little Canon and see what I can do with it.

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

OK – So Let’s Do The Re – Fried Thing!

Nothing complicated at all about this stuff . . .

The only real thing? Metal pan = metal tools / teflon type pan = plastic tools – depending on the type of coating you can do a lot of damage to the pan in a hurry with high heat and metal tools!!

And the star of this show . . .

Get your skillet hot ( depending on burner size ) 3 – minutes – add a tablespoon or so of lard – when it melts down – in with the diced jalapeno – give it a couple of minutes – then . . .

Add 1/2 of the diced onion . . .

Give it a minute or so – the skillet is hot!

Since I keep these in jars in the fridge – the beans tend to soak up the water in the jar – cooking them I add about 1/4 cup of water to the skillet . . .

When you start boiling – start mashing and moving them around . . . ( with the star of the show )

In just a minute or three the beans are pretty much mashed / cooked and starting to steam off water and thicken . . .

When you scrape across the bottom and the beans don’t run and back fill – you are just going from runny beans to sticky beans – which is pretty much where we like them for most stuff . . .

When the water stops cooking off you are pretty much full on sticky beans . . .

Besides just straight up eating them – let’s put them in a tortilla for lunch – remember I only used 1/2 that onion for the beans? Get the griddle hot – some avocado oil – the rest of the onion and a cup or so of pork carnitas – smelling good!

All you are doing is putting a little “crisp” on the carnitas – 3 to 5 to 7 minutes – just depends how much crispy you want . . .

Put a layer of beans then cheese on 1/2 the tortilla . . .

A layer of carnitas then a layer of cheese – then onto the griddle . . .

Cook them on the griddle to YOUR pleasure – crisp as you want – you can keep flipping until it’s “there” . . .

Slice – garnish – serve – Enjoy! ( used Guatemalan crema for garnish )

Here’s a couple of videos – Simply Mama and Arnie Tex are both great channels for good and simple ( for the most part ) recipes and how-to’s . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

But first – You’ve got to cook the Pinto Beans!

Everybody loves Refried Beans – and if YOU don’t? What is your major malfunction?? – But first you have to cook the “Pintos” . . .

You start with 5 Cups of beans . . .

Put them in a strainer and wash and pick them – the little grungy looking ones – funny colored ones – the better brand you start with the fewer rejects – take your time and roll them through the water several times at least . . .

It’s as easy as anything that catches your eye – pick it out and throw it away – your also rinsing any dust or dirt off prior to cooking . . . into the crockpot . . .

Get yourself a package of salt pork . . .

And dice/chop it up – you need a SHARP knife as the skin is tough . . . and into the crockpot . . .

Then get some magic bacon and chop it up – 12oz or 16oz? Whatever floats your boat – remember one of the simplest cooking rules there is – when in doubt – add magic bacon. And if any doubt remains?? ADD MORE MAGIC BACON!!

Slicey Slicey – sharp knives always work better . . . and put the magic bacon into the crockpot . . .

3 large jalapenos ( or 4 or 5 little ones ) – take just a sliver off of the stem end – slice lengthwise into quarters – then dice from there . . . into the crockpot the jalapenos go . . .

Seasoning is simple – one tablespoon each salt – black pepper – garlic powder – and into the crockpot the seasoning goes – that was easy enough – wasn’t it?

And then you add 16 cups of water – give it a good stir – turn it on high – lid on – stir again in about two hours – you can cut this recipe in half or use your bigger crockpot! ( i use my bigger crockpot – more beans is better )

Crockpot on high . . .

Once it starts gurgling good – takes about 2 hours or so – give it a stir – then let it cook for 4 to 4 1/2 hours – you want to get to a slight resistance to bite or crush between thumb and finger – you really don’t want to cook it down to “mush”.

Then shut the crockpot off and let it sit for an hour – this is the hardest part of the entire recipe – because by now the whole house smells like a good Mexican restaurant – LOL!

Scoop the pintos out of the crockpot with a slotted spoon – top off with juice – lid on and spin the ring down . . .

Set them on the counter to cool down – then put them in the fridge . . .

Bruce – shouldn’t all those beans have made more than 7 pints??

well i suppose the batch made 8+ pints – but i made a skillet of cornbread – and nature took its course . . .

Next “pinto” post we will go through “refried” beans – and yes I know there are probably a gazillion or so how-to videos on the tube – I’m going to show you how I make them – even the people in the family that don’t like “refried” beans load up on these . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!