Old Fashioned Bean Soup

Pick over and rinse 1 lb. Great Northern beans. Place in large soup pot and cover with cold water. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Add 2 tsp. baking soda and boil for 60-90 seconds. Drain and rinse well. Return to pot and cover well with water (at least 8 cups). Add 1 meaty ham bone. Bring to boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 - 4 hrs. until beans are tender. Add 1 large chopped onion, 1 bay leaf and 1/2 tsp.pepper. Taste for salt. If too salty, add 1 pared diced potato. (This will aid any soup which is too salty.) Cook 1 hr. more or until beans are very tender. Remove bay leaf and ham bone. Cut meat from bone, return to pot and serve.

Note: The pre-boiling with baking soda is supposed to relieve the gassy aftereffects of eating beans. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but I recommend it for all my soup recipes.