Christmas day, after the morning’s festivities were enjoyed, my dad {the kiddos’ “papa”} snuck away with my brothers and the designer.  They were gone for hours.  They told us not to eat.  And it was to be a surprise. 

Boy was it.  My brother Brig blindfolded each of us and took us for a wild ride all over town until we were justifiably and completely disoriented.  (He even rode over curbs and did donuts in the school parking lot to disguise our destination).  When we arrived we were carefully guided, holding umbrellas, while we heard mist all around us.  We were in the back yard of my Dad’s State Farm office.

jonny, the builder, & i

He has an office in Yorba Linda’s Old Town Main Street.  It has a wonderful backyard that was my favorite part of the day when I worked Summers for him.  He wanted it to be a sort of Tropical Forest and it really is.  He even hooked up misters to the palm trees that go off during lunch time.  Pavers line the walk and cover the patio area.  It is a sanctuary for sure. 

So all but my kiddos knew where we were despite the blindfolds.  It was so much fun.  As we sat to have a Tropical Rain Forest Cafe lunch, the dancer decided she was sick…Brig drove us home, and she threw-up just as we were pulling into my parent’s. 

I heard it was amazing.  The builder had a blast with my siblings and parents.  Later, they brought some of the delectable home for the designer and I to try.  He served marinated steak, chicken and gator-meat, salads, and some amazing beans.

Papa soaks his dry pinto beans and slow cooks them in jalapeno.  Boy are they amazing.  So when we came back to our winter wonderland, the designer brought cravings with him.  We’ve been soaking and slow-cooking beans like crazy.  And we’ve come up with something darn close to those perfect beans Papa made:

papa’s perfect beans {half it if you like, this is beans for a week for us} 🙂

4 c dry pinto beans (soaked over night in plenty of water)
1 large onion, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, pressed
3 jalapeno, diced
1 tbs cumin

After the beans have soaked, place all in crock-pot. Pour water atop that is 2″ higher than the beans and cook for 8 hours on high.

We have been eating them lots of ways, but one of our favs is to fry corn tortillas in olive oil and fill them with beans, salsa, cilantro, and a bit of cheese….yum!