Green Beans and Lisa

I always loved when I got to either visit Johnny's best friend Lisa or if she came to visit us. She is a restaurant pro and loves to show me new tricks in the kitchen. She is one of those people who will be sitting there drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette, but will see you struggling in the kitchen and then come to the rescue. Suddenly she is grabbing pans and flipping whatever is inside of them up a few feet and landing them perfectly back in the pan. I sometimes ended up taking the side seat with the cigarette and beer because watching her cook is like watching your favorite show on the food network!

She came for Thanksgiving once and Johnny requested that she make her famous green beans. Of course, in my head, I'm thinking, "Great. Now I have to go get cream of mushroom soup and those crazy French's fried onions." No- she asked for fresh green beans and bacon. I am not sure what else she added- but I remember her leaving the bacon in big long strips like it comes in the package- this way, once it cooked down, it was the same size as the beans. She didn't cook the bacon until was crispy, so it left the beans crunchier and the bacon was a little chewy. The perfect combination. I know there was garlic and black pepper too.

Alongside Johnny's famous sour cream mashed potatoes, these beans were so delicious. There were no leftovers. Lisa is incredibly talented in the kitchen- she can certainly cook so many more things that are WAY more complicated than green beans. Sometimes it is the simpler things that can stick with you forever. I try to duplicate this recipe often. Sometimes I add crushed hazelnuts to make it my own. Every time I make green beans, I think of Lisa.

I miss her. She visited while John and I were living in Vegas, but we haven't seen her since then. I'm wondering if she would like to take another trip through NM and we can cook together again. I will have the green beans and the bacon ready.