Bean Soup and Biscuits

The deer are looking for local food and have worn a path
through the snow banks around our house.

Someone wanted a ham sandwich, so we took a huge ham out of the freezer and so most of our meals lately have had something with a hammish theme. I don't really care for ham in it's whole form, but it is delicious as a compliment to many other meals. First we had homemade mac and cheese with chunks of ham and some of my mean green hot sauce. It was awesome. Baked until the edges are crusty brown... uymmmmm. I didn't get any leftovers cause my daughter loves loves loves mac and cheese and ate it all up... good for her.
I spotted a container of chicken parts and decided to use that to create a base for some ham and bean soup. We used white beans from my mom's CSA share grown by Annie Carlson of Morning Joy Farms. I soaked them overnight, brought them to a boil, and allowed them to cool. The beauty of growing your own beans is that they are much softer and fresher and don't take as long to cook. YOU MUST never add tomatoes to a bean dish or bean soup with dried beans until the beans are totally cooked or they will "freeze up" and that's the end of that.
After cooking the stock I put it outside and after it cooled sufficiently I scraped the fat off the top and started throwing stuff into the pot. I chopped up a homegrown onion and added the beans. I cubed up two slices of ham and threw that in. Then I used some of my fresh carrots, sliced and added with red potatoes to the broth. It was wonderful. Of course, the final touch is browned flour... it thickens the broth a wee bit and adds a wonderful flavor, not to mention the beautiful color.
As always soup continues to improve with age. You want to reheat it, but do not boil it - even when cooking stock simmer means just below a rolling boil -- oh it's so good.
The first night we had some baking powder biscuits - one of my favorites. Tender inside and crisp outside... with butter and homemade jelly... life is good on the plains - in the winter - when January thaw comes round and gives us a taste of spring...