Cowboy beans are delicious, they fueled the cattle drives. Try making them for a cowboy supper with an adult's help!

Boy howdy, exclaimed McAveler!

Those cowboy beans on the cattle trail were sure delicious! No wonder the cowboys liked them so much. The chuck wagon cooks really were awesome!

I can tell you really liked them. But then, you seem to like anything that is edible, laughed Mimi! The beans had one too many chiles for me. But other than that, they were delicious.

McAveler, did you know that make an almost perfect food? Very nutritious.

Here is a delicious recipe that the old chuck wagon cooks might have used on the cattle drives.

Cowboy Beans (Always ask an adult to help you!)

2 pounds pinto beans

2 pounds ham hocks or salt pork

2 onions -- chopped

4 tablespoons sugar

2 -- or to taste

1 can tomato paste

salt to taste

Wash beans and soak overnight.

Cover beans with water and cook with above ingredients over low heat (simmer) until done.

Sample the beans while cooking so you can add salt to taste.

Add water as needed.

NOTES:

Camp fires make the beans even more delicious. If you are lucky enough to go camping along the old trails with your family, try cooking the beans over a camp fire or in a .

Think like a cook. Start soaking the beans before you leave home so you can start simmering them as soon as you have a camp fire going.

Two assignments from Chico Chihuahua

Kids, first check out this awesome video about Bryce Canyon National Park. It was named after the man who discovered it, Ebenezer Bryce. He was a cattle rancher out on the trail looking for a lost cow who wandered into Bryce Canyon. Ebenezer said something like this "What a bad place to lose a cow."

1. What substance is it in that make them so hot?

2. Why do cooks remove the insides from chiles before using them?

Then report what you find out back to your parents or teacher.