I gonna try to play catch-up here with this diary so bear with me..
6/24
Friiiday! Wife went to the movies without me. I got off work earlier than I thought so I stopped at the store. Bought some ham trimmings, about one pound. A 35oz can of Italian plum tomatoes, a bunch of basil, 2 15oz cans of canellini beans, a loaf of bread (a baguette), and a pound of fussilli (pasta). Got home and chopped half the ham trimmings in small pieces and put the other half in the fridge for the future. In a large pan I browned the trimmings in some olive oil and them removes half of them and set them aside. Them I added one large onion sliced lengthwise to the pan and cooked till it got soft. At this point the ham was well browned and there was a bunch brown stuff sticking to the bottom of the pan (this is good). I add three cloves of slivered garlic and three crumbled dried hot peppers and stirred for about a minute. Next I added the canned tomatoes which I had put into a bowl and crushed coarsely with my hand. I stirred this and brought it to a simmer, scraping the brown stuff off the bottom of the pan. Then I coarsely chopped the basil and added it along with some salt (not too much as the ham was salty). Then I took about a quarter cup of black olives (the cured kind, not the kind from cans) and pitted and halved them and added them to the sauce. I stirred then covered the pan and turned off the heat.

I heated another pan and added some olive oil. Then I added three cloves of slivered garlic and two stems of fresh rosemary. Next I added the fried ham that I had put aside. Next I added the canellini beans, one can drained and other not. I checked it for salt and then covered and turned off the heat.
Next I went to Delraysteve’s and drank beer and listened to music. That Dangermouse and Gemini album from last year is still great.

Later I returned home and put some water on to boil. I put the beans and the sauce on low heat. I sliced the bread and put it in the oven. I coarsely mashed the beans with a potato masher and put them in a bowl. When the bread was toasted I served it with the beans while we waited for the pasta to cook. When the pasta was done I added it the pan with the tomato sauce and stirred to incorporate it with the sauce. Put this in a bowl and topped with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese. It was yummy, and enough for four people or two days worth of dinner for two.