I had some really successful kitchen kismet this week.  Bob and Evelyn sent over some fabulous beans.  I think I made an erroneous assumption that they were Chinese long beans.  Whether they were or not, it set off a tidal wave of memories for me and, as usual I headed to my trusty stash of recipes, which live in the gigantic white loose-leaf notebook called, simply "Clare".  Hmmmm....I wonder if in my heart, cooking defines me?  Clearly the subject for, if not therapy, then lots of further thought.  But I digress....back to beans. I found a wonderful Gourmet recipe from 2006 and there, right beside it, a Mark Bittman recipe from 2002 which I must have decided at some point would go together beautifully.

I'd like to say right up front that I love pimento cheese. Although I was born in New Jersey (if Princeton counts as New Jersey)  I think I've always loved the quintessentially southern treat since I first encountered it on rubbery store-bought white bread made into crustless sandwiches when I was a little girl transplanted to Virginia.  In the old days, one used to be able to buy "good" pimento cheese at the grocery store, which, I'm very sad to say, is no longer the case.  I've made it a little game to look at the ingredients on containers of pimento cheese I've stumbled upon in recent years, and, frankly, have been horrified with some of the completely unacceptable things I've found listed. Believe me, cream cheese has no place in real pimento cheese.