This morning while Desere and I were sitting here having coffee, I heard the front door open and someone come in. Marcel was working, so I knew that it had to be my mother-in-law stopping in to deliver some berries that she’d picked yesterday at her brother, Pierre’s garden.
She entered the living room with a bag, which contained a Tupperware bowl filled with the tart red berries, but also some beans that are simply called ‘garden beans’. I’m sure they probably have another name which sounds fancier, but that’s what she told me they are called.
I like beans, especially fresh ones, but I had to admit that I’ve never tried this particular variety. I have seen them in the store and even at the farmers market, but since Marcel doesn’t like them, I never purchased any. She said she didn’t want to hurt Pierre’s feelings by telling him that she didn’t want the beans, so she took them thinking that maybe, since I liked so many other varieties of beans, that I would enjoy these too. I told her that I’d shell them and give them a try today and that’s exactly what I did. 
As you can see, I was definitely more fascinated in the actual way that the bean was encased in the shell. If you saw the actual full sized pod, you would have thought there was a lot of beans tucked away inside, but at the most, I got 4 beans out of one pod. The inside was pretty though, almost velvety and I couldn’t help but become inspired to see what kind of pictures I could get of them. I took many, but these are three of my favorites.
Once I finished shelling the beans, I decided to cook them. I added some water, a little Tony’s cajun seasoning, garlic and onion powder and let them cook. I felt sure that I would love them, and when they were done cooking, I decided to sample one. After all, I was curious as to how they would taste.
I really wanted to like the beans, but some things just can’t be forced. That was the case with these little green beauties. Since no one else likes them either, they ended up becoming food for the garbage can. I hated to toss them, but no one else that I know eats them, and maybe there’s a reason for that. They make great photography subjects, but I’d leave it at that.
