I heard that Americans go through some huge amount of nachos and chili on Super Bowl game day. We’re doing our part. I bought some really nice Jacob’s Cattle beans at a winter farmer’s market a couple weeks ago.

I’m following a recipe I made a few years ago: Jacob’s Cattle Bean Chili. (I’m using the last of my homegrown canned garden tomatoes.) We’ll pile the chili onto chips with guacamole, cheese, salsa fresco and sour cream, then open the beer and turn on the game.

The Jacob’s Cattle beans I got were grown by a small farm in Maine that grows only shell beans. They had a great table at a recent farmer’s market. I told the farmer I wanted to grow some of the beans and eat the rest. He showed me the package with the darkest freshest beans. I love the color and size of these beans, though they do fade when cooked. The farmer also told me that Black Turtle beans are about the most productive variety to grow. Those are my other favorite shell bean to grow.