Grandma Bushman's Classic Bean Soup

Grandma Bushman used to make a simple, yet delicious bean soup almost every Saturday for her family.  My mom said that Grandma would also make scones to go with it.  She used the same dough recipe as her roll recipe (see in prior post)--she would roll it out, cut out small triangles/rectangles and fry them.  My mom continued the tradition of making this soup over General Conference Weekend.

Since there is no recipe that exists, I asked my mom to instruct me how to make it.  Here is the first written recipe and step by step instructions:

Recipe:

4 cups dried pinto beans

1 15 oz can of tomato sauce

1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes

1 medium onion

1 ham hock or about 2 cups of ham--spiral is best (if ham not available, then use at least 1 lb. cooked ground beef)

Soak 4 cups of pinto beans overnight.  

(Make sure to sort the beans, discarding broken and bad beans first.)

The next day, drain the beans, and fill it with fresh water a couple inches above the beans.  

Bring to a boil.  Add water as it gets low. 

Tip: Do not add any salt! The salt will make the bean skin tough.

As the beans begin to soften, add 1 15 oz. can of tomato sauce. 

After emptying it in the soup, fill it with water and put that in the soup too.

Another tip: Make sure to periodically stir the soup throughout the day to prevent burning and to keep an eye on the level of water.

Wait till the beans are almost totally soft before putting in other ingredients:

 Add 1 medium diced onion

 Add a ham hock or diced ham (for best results, use spiral cut ham)
I used about 2 cups worth.

If you don't have ham, you can add at least 1 lb. of cooked ground beef.

 Add a can of diced tomatoes.
If water is getting low, fill the can with water and empty in soup.

 After about 6 hours enjoy this simple, delicious soup!
If you cook this with a ham hock, remove the bone and scrape off meat when you are ready to eat.

My mom took a taste and said, "Perfect!" 

Thanks Mom for teaching me how to make this special, traditional family soup!

It's wonderful to bring back special memories of someone dear
by eating the food they used to make.

I miss my Grandma but now I can keep her memory alive by making her delicious food!