On a cooking fren-zē ; intense usually wild and often disorderly compulsive or agitated activity (not quite, but you know what I mean)

Growing up in a Serbian home, my mom would make Pasulja a rich navy bean soup, with few vegetables and LOTS of flavour. I hated it, up until I got married and realized how much I missed my moms home cooked meals, now I love the stuff and decided to try making it. One day last week I visited Ade's Meat Market and bought a ham hock which was the base flavour of the Pasulja. It turned out delicious and was even better the next day! Some Serbs claim that Pasulja tastes the best the 7th time you warm it up. I wasn't about to try.

1 smoked ham hock (or any other smokey meat of your choice)

1/2 bag navy beans (soaked in cold water for 1hr)

3 cloves garlic minced

3 celery ribs chopped

2 carrots chopped

1/2 onion chopped

2 tbs Vegeta (or any other seasoning salt)

Boil the Ham in a large pot of water for 1hr, add remaining ingredients and let simmer for approximately 3 hours or until beans are tender.

To thicken the soup, make a roux;

3 tbs flour

1/4 C butter OR Oil

Brown the mixture on low heat, add sprinkle of sweet paprika and enough broth from the soup to make a thick sauce. Slowly stir roux mixture into soup until thick.

I made Serbian fried bread to accompany the soup. It was my first time making this, so I was not surprised when they didn't turn out as fluffy as they should have. I'm hoping my next attempt will be better!

There really is no reason to use any other Cookie recipe, EVER, other than this one. I have been making these for years, and when I made them on Saturday I substituted half the batch with chunks of white chocolate and chopped pecans. A.J said they ROCKED!

Make them, now, go do it! Come back and let me know how right I am!

In the fridge cooling right now is my Gruyere-Walnut crisps from Bon Appetite, such a quirky recipe, but I can't wait to bake em and taste em.