Bean Soup

Ok. Today is THE day I attempt to make my mother-in-law's Bean Soup. This is the same soup that Casey goes on and on and on about loving soooooo much and being one of his favorite dishes. No pressure, right?

Before I get to the recipe and retire into the kitchen I want to also give an update on my dark chocolate fudge. First of all, it tastes great, even now, as I type, I am experiencing the best chocolate high ever. I licked the residue off my fingers and ate two more squares than I originally allowed myself. However, about that residue, my fudge didn't harden as much as it should have. Does anyone know why? I don't. I am inclined to think maybe it is because I did not get the mixture hot enough when I cooked it on the stove instead of the microwave. Does that make sense to anyone? I do not know enough about chemistry. Hmmmmm, it's a mystery....a very tasty mystery. A few of you out there have made fudge before so share your recipe or your idea of why my fudge did not firm up as much as it should have.

Back to my mother-in-law's famous bean soup. She mentioned when I called her for this recipe that there is plenty of room to experiment, add more spices or ingredients. She likes to follow recipes to the T, but she knows I don't really measure my spices, I taste and season and that I may want to experiment with more ingredients. But here is the original recipe (I'll probably stick to it pretty closely this first time around and see how it goes.):

Cathy's Bean Soup
1 lb white northern beans
1 ham bone (Casey and I bought half a ham (bone included) so we can use the extra ham for sandwiches. We're big sandwhich eaters.)
Ham Chunks (I guess as much or as little as you like)
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
Bay leaves (I don't have a specific amount so I'll start with 3-4)
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt
1/2 tspn white pepper (I don't have any white pepper and my grocery store doesn't carry it, so I'll use fresh cracked black pepper until I find the white stuff)
1/2 tspn basil (I love using basil, mostly because it is the same basil that I grew and dried this spring and summer. I know exactly whats in the spice jar ;)
10 cups of water

Soak beans overnight, remove any bean shells that float to the top, drain, add ingredients to a large pot, bring to a boil and then simmer on low for 3-4 hours.

Here goes nothin'...