It’s a good few days to be Flat 493!

Last night, as we headed out to sit courtside, the mailman tossed (literally), this quarter’s Rancho Gordon bean club box.

Today brought a new shipment, from Two Wolves Wine, owned by the singer P!nk. I was finally smart enough to have it delivered to the office instead of trying to have it held at FedEx or having to work from home to prove I’m an adult. (Today’s dude didn’t even scan my ID. Allegedly the scanner is difficult so it’s faster to bypass manually… 👵🏻👵🏻👵🏻)

Rancho Gordo boxes arrive quarterly, with six one-pound bags of dried beans and one special pantry ingredient, like pimentón or popping corn. Now, as you may recall, we are a household of two, minus the dogs. If you invite us to any sort of potluck, there will be a bean salad, and if you come for dinner, do not be surprised if there are beans on the menu.

Totally worth it.

Cooking dried beans means planning. Care. A commitment to nourishment.

Two Wolves is a little less regular, but always a special event. I even set my alarm for 3 a.m. local time when we were in Vietnam* so I wouldn’t miss an opportunity after forgetting the second time and only being able to snag a single bottle. Alicia and crew release three different varietals with fantastically-written descriptions, so we always go for the three-pack — which is much more than we usually spend on wine, but everything we’ve had has been super delicious and perfectly paired.

I wish I had kept track, but I don’t remember how long we were on either club’s mailing list before we got the call ups to the big leagues. I do know I made it onto Rancho Gordo’s list the same quarter as Alton Brown and just before a much better chef blogger friend who I miss very much from Instagram (but she lives where they are plentiful in stores, so don’t feel too bad for her).

If you love beans and wine — and especially if you don’t think you love beans, but trust me, you do — sign on up! Then you can get happy mail, too.

*we just paid the deposit on our next big trip, so I promise to actually do the Vietnam post(s) before we leave for Japan.