From the Kitchen: Red Beans and Rice

I love this dish. It is amazing! If you want to make me happy, make me red beans and rice. WARNING: It does take a while. Quite a while. Up to 60 hours, really.

You Will Need:
1 pound red kidney beans
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
4-5 ribs celery, chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 ham hock (or a slice of ham, diced)
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced diagonally
3/4 t. thyme
2 bay leaves
4-5 dashes Tabasco sauce
1 dash Worcestershire sauce 
1 t Creole seasoning
Salt to taste

How to do it:
If you want, soak the beans overnight. Then drain them, cover with twice as much water as you have beans, bring them to be a rolling boil. Boil them for an hour. While they're happily bubbling away, work on the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic. Once they're chopped, saute them until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and saute two minutes more. Drain the beans, put them back in the pot, and add everything else. Everything. From onion to salt. Bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 to (preferably) 3 hours. When it starts getting creamy, adjust the seasonings to your liking. Serve over rice. Or, cool it, refrigerate it overnight, reheat it, and serve it for dinner the next day. It's even better, trust me.