Bean and Bacon Soup

definitely one of the worst recipes i've made from CL.  WAY too spicy!!!!  i should have known when i was cooking the onions and spices and i began to cough.  i can't taste anything else other than chili powder.  i even doubled the water, molasses and vinegar and still WAY too spicy!!!  it might be better with half or a quarter of the chili powder, but don't think i like it enough to make it again.  

This is definitely in the "has potential" category, which I realized by substituting a fully flavored vegetable stock (Imagine brand) for the water (yuck-water in soup?) and fire roasted tomatoes. I also sauteed finely chopped onion, carrot, and celery in the bacon fat before adding the beans and liquid. Finally, I simmered this with the lid on for 90 minutes and pureed a cup of it & added the puree back to the pot. Now we're talking! Served with cole slaw and B&M Brown Bread slices.

This was okay, but not something I'd bother to make again. It was kind of like baked beans soup.

This was a quick recipe suitable for a week night. However, I think this might have been a good recipe for the slow cooker so the beans could soften more. It was served with grilled cheese sandwiches.