I can smell it as I walk into my house at 1214 Jackson Street.  I’m sure the whole neighborhood knows we are having soup beans and cornbread.  Soup beans the poor man’s dinner, but I don’t even care, because I loved them.    At least once a week, during my childhood soup beans were on the menu for dinner. 

Soup beans and cornbread is one of my favorite meals.   Mom began preparing the meal even before I went to school.   All day I anticipated the meal I would enjoy that evening.   First thing in the morning, mom poured a bag of Pinto beans and Northern beans in a pot of water.  When we got home I smelled the aroma of the delicious soup.  About an hour later another smell was added and that was the aroma of corn bread in the oven.  Nothing better than that, mom’s cornbread and soup beans, except what I knew would be following for dessert.

When I was a little older I got to see the steps it took to create a meal I so enjoyed.  First thing in the morning I’d join Mom in the kitchen.  Mom emptied the beans in a big bowl and then she gave me another empty bowl.  Mom showed me how to cup my hands together and scoop up a handful of beans and peer at them intently eyeing for any rocks or bad beans.   I was to remove them as they sifted through my fingers.   I’d sort through the beans three or four times.  I got really good at it.  I was so proud when mom checked one more time and she couldn’t find anything that shouldn’t be there.   Mom then covered the beans with water.  She put a lid on it, put it on the stove and we would wait all day. 

About an hour before dinner was to be served, mom took the pot and drain it of the excess water.  The beans had soaked up much of the water as they had grown all plump and juicy.  Mom then put fresh water over them, filling the pot about three-quarters of the way full.  She set them on the stove and turned the burner to high.  Now this was the time for the secret ingredient.  She took out an aluminum foil wrapped package. 

I remember watching her for the first time, expose the secret ingredient.  What could this be, that makes the soup beans so delicious?  I was totally surprised to see what was in the package.  It was the bone from the ham we had had for dinner days before.  I thought mom saved the bone for our fun loving beagles.  She took that bone as the beans were beginning to boil and placed it in the pot with the beans.  She always left some meat on the bone for this very reason, to be able to season the soup beans.  When the beans came to a boil, mom turned the burner under the pot down to low, so now they would just simmer slowly.  This allowed the beans to soak up the juices from the ham bone and season the beans to perfection. 

When the beans only had about an half an hour left to cook mom made the cornbread.  Mom got out the cornmeal, flour, eggs, oil and sugar.  Mom added sugar to her cornbread.   I guess just like life cornbread with a little sugar makes it sweeter.  If you tasted my mom’s cornbread you knew she was right.  Her cornbread was perfect.  She cooked the cornbread until it was golden brown

When the cornbread was done the beans were done.  Her timing was always perfect.  Mom hated for our meals to be cold when we set down at the table to eat.  She always wanted us to eat while the food was hot.  Cornbread and beans are best eaten when you can see the steam rise off your plate.  I’d have to suck in air, to cool it off because you were so anxious, with that first bite. 

Now there were several favorite ways of eating cornbread and soup beans.   Some people, I found, as I grew up always ate their soup beans in a bowl with a piece of cornbread to the side.  I guess this is proper given the name soup beans.  However, in my household soup beans was always eaten on a plate.  We took our cornbread and crumbled it up on our plate.  Then we poured several spoons of beans over our cornbread.  Now the toppings are what varied in our house.  We could put diced onions, relish or both over our beans.  I preferred onions only.  Ronnie, my brother, liked relish and Robert, my other brother, liked both. 

Mom always fixed a pot of greens to go along with our soup beans.  Mom sliced boiled eggs on top of daddy’s greens and sprinkled them with juice from hot peppers soaked in vinegar.  Greens were just delicious by themselves. 

As if this meal wasn’t wonderful in itself, we always knew when we had soup beans and cornbread there was always dessert in the evening.  Around eight o’clock, after homework was done, the food was put up and the kitchen was cleaned, mom called us to the kitchen for dessert.  She pulled out the bag of left over cornbread and milk from the refrigerator and bowls from the cabinet.  She gave each of us a bowl with a piece of cornbread in it.  We crumbled our cornbread in our bowl and then mom filled each of our bowls with milk.  How refreshing and wonderful.  Momma’s sweet cornbread and milk was the perfect dessert anytime. 

I don’t make soup beans to much anymore.  I have only two children of my seven living at home now.  My children didn’t seem to like them as much as I did.  So there are times now I will throw three boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix in the oven.  This is the brand that tastes just like moms.  Later that night my children and I enjoy a bowl of cornbread and milk.  As I write this piece I think I can actually smell my kitchen as a child on soup beans and cornbread day.