1.   Cook the beans, stirring continuously, until they are heated through and look like thick porridge.

2.   Beans should be cooked until they are just tender all the way through, but not at all mushy.

3.   Cook your beans without lard.

4.   Cook the beans in an abundance of well-salted water, about a teaspoon of salt for a pound of beans.

5.   DO add salt only when the beans are almost fully cooked.

6.   If son Levi is home from Texas Tech, they will call ahead and have him start the Spanish rice and cook the beans from scratch.

7.   If you do not want to cook black beans from scratch, canned beans will be fine.

8.   It required cooking black beans in order to have the necessary liquid, but the recipe produced a mixture closer to soup than scoopable dip.

9.   Most of the work comes on the second day, when you cook the beans and establish the flavor base of the dish.

10.   Salt should be added only after the beans are cooked.