Leather britches?

I've been trying to read up on heirloom beans and keep coming across a reference to "leather britches". What are they talking about? :?:

It is a good bean for eating fresh or canning or making leather britches.

boffer wrote:

Megan wrote: I've been trying to read up on heirloom beans and keep coming across a reference to "leather britches". What are they talking about?

The stiff, hot, and heavy pants I begrudgingly wore
when I used to ride motorcycles.

..... AKA "Lederhosen"!

Dried beans. String green or wax beans on a string and hang to dry. They reconstitute when cooked. Good with fat jowl or ham.

OR send them to Boffer for him to wear.

belfrybat wrote:Dried beans. String green or wax beans on a string and hang to dry. They reconstitute when cooked. Good with fat jowl or ham.

OR send them to Boffer for him to wear.

Boffer wearing a hula skirt made of those....

If you've ever been to Hawaii...and if you've ever gone to a 'luau' for tourists...then you know there's at least one 'boffer' at every luau that gets pushed on-stage to 'learn' how to do the hula-for everyone elses' entertainment.

It reminds me of the announcers of international soccer.............:

This forum has become a lawless place...

Chopper wrote:This forum has become a lawless place...

Seriously... I step away for but a moment and, voila, mass heat stroke, except for Boff... LOL you folks are FUN!

Chopper wrote:This forum has become a lawless place...

Lucy Lawless? Hmm...

..... AKA "Lederhosen"!

lololol lololololol

It's taken about 4 days (really, it's do-able in one) but I've started some leather britches.

Day 1. Harvested the Lazy Wife Greasy beans and the Non-Tough Half Runner beans. Both pole beans, 4 squares of each, 8 plants per square, 4 zebra-grass poles per square. Trellis frame is 10ft high. Couldn't reach high enough on the step stool (the short one - tall one isn't stable enough in the garden) so I got out last year's trusty helpers, Stabby and Grabby: a paring knife duct-taped to a PVC pole, and a granny-grabber. Pull the bean taut from the vine with the grabbers, and slice the stem with the knife. Maybe use the grabbers to maneuver the bean down... maybe just drop it and pick them up at the end. I harvested them a bit mature - should have picked them when they were younger/snappier. The NTHRs are probably closer to shelly stage if I understand the terminology correctly.

Day 2. Felt overwhelmed and just let the beans sit in the kitchen

Day 3.  Removed the tops and tails as part of pulling the strings off the beans. These are heirloom beans that still have strings. Then threaded them through the centers onto carpet thread (old, hopefully cotton) with a yarn needle - a somewhat smaller needle would have been better. (I tied the thread in a loop through/around the first and last bean - tying a knot doesn't really work.)

Day 4. Starting the timer once the water was already at a boil, steamed the beans, strings and all, in two batches, for 2-3 minutes, then dunked in ice water to cool. Placed on clean towels to blot dry, and hung in the basement with a fan on them to dry them the rest of the way. (The basement has a dehumidifier running to 40-50% humidity.)

Thanks Beetles:  we really do have some interesting old threads in our archives.

Doesn't look like I ever photographed the strung up leather britches, but here there are unstrung:


And cooked:


I don't know what to make of them. They aren't bad tasting, but they aren't amazing. A little salt might have helped... If I do them again, I'd pick the beans younger, and I wouldn't leave them sitting before steaming and drying them.