We splurged on a spiral-sliced ham for Thanksgiving, and it was getting past the good slices by yesterday, so I cut out the bone and put four cups of mixed dried beans on to soak. When they'd doubled in size, I put them, half an onion, chopped (leftover from a different dish) , some peppercorns, some herbs, and the ham bone into one of the smaller soup pots and let it simmer overnight. I forgot to put in any garlic--I'm out of garlic at the moment anyway (how can this be? Out of garlic!)
The smell woke me up this morning. The pot-likker is thick and brown; the beans are soft and succulent. Also in the pot--scraps of the ham meat cut into chunks, and the drippings (including glaze) from the roasting pan the ham had been in. The bones are completely cooked out.
R- had two bowls for lunch; I had one. Yum. Not hungry now.
Part of this will go into storage containers for the freezer, and the rest will make supper tonight for R- and lunch tomorrow for me.