On Saturday, July 16, 2005, at 11:34 AM, Dusty Bleher wrote:

> The overall result, according to my very opinionated Hispanic critics,
> was
> _far_ superior to store-bought. Woo-hoo! High praise from steely-eyed
> critics indeed.

Dusty,

Now that you've conquered the tortillas and hence the relatives, an
opportunity remains: the beans <g>... I had another look at your site
(lotsa good stuff there by the way... even more than the last time I
visited)

Back to the beans.

They are like dough. The flavor will develop and mature if you give
them time. A two or three day cool soak before cooking works wonders.
Makes them sweeter. I don't know why, I think the beans are fooled into
thinking they are supposed to germinate so the latent enzymes wake up.
Anyway... they improve quite a bit. You can taste the difference
between an ordinary soaked bean and an "aged" soaked bean.

Will