Brilliant Beans

In some form or another, I've found that most of the people I work with know the children's ditty beans, beans, the magical fruit...or beans, beans, good for your heart...People like beans, especially the Brits and the Irish. About six months ago, one of my colleagues (a Brit) went to Malaysia for a conference. What did he bring back for my Irish office mate? Beans! Turquoise cans of Heinz Baked Beans. Said office mate was thrilled.

Fast forward to January. While I was preparing to return to Japan, I was trying to think of something suitable to bring back for this bean-loving Irish man...what else? Beans! So I'm standing in Raley's in the baked beans section trying to figure out exactly what kind of baked beans to bring back. There are a lot of different kinds of baked beans to be had...BBQ, sweet, spicy, bacon, vegetarian, etc. What kind of beans are Heinz Baked Beans anyway? I tried to imagine the sort of beans that an Irish man would find tasty. I read all the bean labels and contemplated trying to find someone in the store who could tell me just what Heinz Baked Beans were all about. I didn't, and I ended up buying a can of Pork & Beans and a can of Bush's BBQ Beans. True to form, when I delivered the beans to my office mate, he was quite happy to receive them.

Last week office mate popped over to Malaysia for a conference, and what did he bring back for me? A turquoise can of Heinz Baked Beans. I thought that I would save them. I've heard that beans on toast will cure a last-night-out-too-late morning, and I considered waiting to share with Ken when he gets here (I know, I know...whooooeeee!). But when I got home last night and realized I was starving and didn't have a whole lot of food in the house, I knew the time had come.

I cut up some chicken, warmed some peas, heated up the beans, and made some toast. When I opened the turquoise can, the contents looked suspiciously like pork & beans sans white cube of whatever that white cube of stuff is. I mixed in the chicken and peas, sat down in front of my computer to watch a more recent episode of 24 and started eating.

The beans were good. In fact, I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. These beans gotten from a turquoise tin of Heinz Baked Beans tasted just like pork & beans without the pork. Now I know.