An amazing thing, comfort food. It's different for each of us. Ginger snap cookies? Cornbread in milk (yes, I said in)? Banana Nut Bread?

From our childhood's we each have our own comfort foods. If we sat down with a pen and paper we could probably name a dozen, but over the course of a few months as we encounter memories we could probably list a dozen more.

Having grown up in Texas, most of my comfort foods from childhood memory are southern specialties. The funny thing is that the recipes grow and change over time until they build up to something fairly complex, then the slate is wiped clean and you start over with just the basics. Whatever it is your cooking may go through this same evolutionary growth process for months or years, then one day you think...this is just too much, and you start over.

With the approach of Thanksgiving, it's always nice to have traditional Thanksgiving foods. However, at the same time, I like to have at least one comfort food meal around that same time period (if not with the same meal) just to give thanks to those who have come before me.

By the same token, I often get asked why I don't post recipes. Well...this is the closest you are getting to a recipe from me.

Bullard Beans

Start with a 2lbs. bag of pinto beans. Separate out any deformed, split or broken beans and any detritus. Rinse the beans thoroughly, then soak them overnight.

Once your beans have finished soaking, you're ready to cook the beans, but don't get your bowls and spoons out yet, we're not eating this for 2 more days.

Rough chop one medium yellow onion, slice one pound of high quality center cut bacon into one inch strips and add those to a skillet with garlic. As it begins to saute, toss in some salt, black pepper, cumin and cayenne. We're making a lot, so don't be shy, those beans will absorb a lot of flavors, so make sure you use enough spices.

Once your onion "just" starts to sweat, not quite turning clear yet, take a package of spicy Andouille sausage, slice it on the bias and add that to the skillet.

When the bacon and onions are soft cooked through and through, add the entire mixture to the bottom of a LARGE crock pot, you're gonna need at least a 6 quart crock pot for this. If you have something like a 12 quart roaster, that's even better.

Rinse your beans once more and drain them, then add them to the crock pot, add a good bit more salt, stir everything around, cover with water by 2 inches and put your crock pot on high for 4 hours, then put it on low and go to bed. You can let it go all night.

In the morning, you'll have a wonderful pot of spicy pinto beans and sausage. You could mash up about 2 cups of those beans, mix them back in and serve that over rice for some great beans n rice. However...that's not Bullard Beans. We're still a day away from eating (though, there's nothing wrong with a bowl of beans just to be sure your spices are just right *winks*).

Clear out some serious space in the fridge and refrigerate your beans for the day. That night...we continue.

Rough chop a small-medium yellow onion, dice two jalapenos, add in some garlic, toss that in a LARGE skillet with high sides to begin to sweat. Add two pounds of leanish (90%) ground chuck to begin to brown. As it's browning, we'll need some salt, black pepper, a good bit of cumin, some chipotle tabasco sauce and some Worcester sauce. As soon as your hamburger meat is browned all the way. Open a 28oz. can of whole tomatoes and crush those by hand over the skillet (taking care not to splatter tomato EVERYWHERE).

When that comes back to a boil, let it simmer down for awhile until it thickens, then add it to your beans. Oh, by the way, you should have already removed your beans from the fridge an hour ago and put them on "warm" in the crockpot.

Depending, you might have to go with a large stock pot or two crock pots, since we're adding more stuff.

Now, mix in your hamburger meat, tomato, etc into your beans and put that on 'low' for four more hours.

Refrigerate overnight to let the flavors blend and marry. Serve with cornbread and milk (then for dessert maybe you can have some cornbread crumbled IN milk).

...sighs...Comfort food.

Oh and tomorrow being Thanksgiving, I just finished my beans up this morning. I'd love to say I'm going to think of all of you when I eat them, but that's not the truth. The truth is I am going to think of my Dad's kitchen...and just remember.