The key to this recipe is to start the beans early. It takes about a week to cook and makes a lot so it's good for a big group.

Days One and Two

• 1/3 cup white beans, or any dried beans

Soak in water one day, cook in slow cooker on high for a day or two, adding water and stirring occasionally. Before adding the rest of the ingredients, make sure the beans are nice and soft.

Day Three

Once the beans are perfectly tender, drain them and put them back in the slow cooker with the Following:

• 1/2 pound bacon cut up into 1 inch squares and separated into pieces and browned in a skillet, but not so much that it gets crispy. (Or use 1/4 to 12 cup of any other kind of fat or oil, if bacon offends you).
• two cups of water.
• one large onion chopped fine

After a few hours, add

• two cans of stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup of molasses
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (more if you skipped the bacon)

cook on medium with a top on for another hour or two. Stir one more time, put the top on and turn the heat off.

Day Four

Add:

• three carrots
• two celery stalks
• one onion

Chop all these vegetables fine, about the size of a bean, and stir into the slow cooker to cook for another 2-4 hours.

Day Five

Get:

• 1 stick of butter
• 1/2 cup of flour

Use a cup to scoop some of the liquid out of the slow cooker and keep it handy. Melt the butter in a large flat pan and whisk in the flour. Whisk the slow cooker juice into the butter in the pan and add more if it still looks dry. Once the flour is mixed well, pour the whole thing back into the beans and mix it in. Turn it down and stir now and then until you're ready to eat. It makes a lot of soup so eating it may take a few days too.