Bonnie, you sound just like me :) I also love growing unique vegetables for the kids (including me) to enjoy. I was interested primarily in winter sowing veggies, and then ended up getting interested in flowers as well. I grew purple pod bush beans and purple carrots last year! You'll have to let me know how the purple pole beans do, and whether they stay purple or turn green when cooked like mine did. The bush beans didn't yield as well as I would have liked. I am also anxious to see my yellow, purple, and white tomatoes begin to to turn colors. I've had only one red and a couple tiger toms ripen so far. I had a couple yellow pear toms starting to ripen, but my dogs got to them first. I cooked up the Chinese Red Noodle beans in a stir fry last night with some zucchini. I didn't have many beans, but enough to have a taste. I tasted a bite raw, and they were kind of bitter. Stir fried, they were firm textured and mild, kind of a cross between asparagus and green beans. Cooked, the color seemed to darken to to purple/black. My kids ate them, and seemed to like them. Please post pictures of your vegetables as they begin to mature. I love seeing what other people are doing, and getting some new ideas.

Canned "Butterbean" limas might give you some idea, since it would offer a comparison between shellies & dried limas. Frozen edamame (or frozen cowpeas, if you can find them) would also give you an idea of green-shelled legumes. If you think about it, even fresh green peas are shellies... compare that to split pea soup. Any bean can be used as shellies when the seeds in the pod have reached maturity, but not all are suitable. The pods of good shell beans are easy to open, have little to no clinging membranes, and good flavor & texture at the green ripe stage. I've tried "Chinese Red Noodle" as a shelly; the seeds were fairly small, and it was difficult to separate the beans from the membranes. The taste was nothing special, same earthy flavor as dry blackeye peas. "Fortex" was just OK as a shelly, and it took a lot of them to get a bowl full. I grow the white-seeded Kentucky Wonder ("Pole 191"), and while the shellies are fairly large & easy to shell, I don't care for their flavor. Curiously, the heirloom "Brita's Foot Long" is superficially identical to "Pole 191", but has seeds of superior flavor... so there can be considerable variation in quality, even between beans of very similar appearance. The only way to find out is to try them all... which is a lot of fun. There are always ripe beans of all varieties still hanging the day before frost, which is a good time to test them. The Romano beans are typically large in the shelly stage, so of the varieties you list, Emmers, they might be your best bet. The eating quality of shellies is hard to describe, in comparison to the same beans dry. I would characterize it as sweeter, with a more complex flavor & better texture. Most of the beans used for shellies are also some of the largest in their species, although there are exceptions. The small-seeded "flageolet" beans are probably the best-flavored of all the common beans. I prepare my shellies very simply, by boiling or steaming them until nearly tender. Cook them too long, and the skins may burst. I drain them & butter them immediately, since many varieties will crack as their skins begin to dry; the butter is already pre-melted, with salt or seasonings mixed in. The beans may be soft at this point (this varies by variety) so rather than stirring, I pour them back & forth gently between two bowls until all beans are buttered & the spices evenly distributed. The beans should be allowed to cool slightly before serving, during which time they will firm up internally (although the skins will continue to soften) and absorb the spices used. An observation regarding shellies... blanching & freezing actually seems to improve their texture.

If you mean the noodles, well they were just boiled real quick and then stir fried with a bit of soy sauce. When I'm really being fancy, dancy, I add chopped green onions, mushrooms and maybe some shrimp. The sweet and sour pork is an easy recipe and a favourite of ours. I half it for just the two of us. Sweet And Sour Pork Pork Tenderloin 2 green peppers quartered (I do eighths) 1/2 cup salad oil 1 clove garlic 1 1/2 to 2 lbs pork tenderloin, cubed 2 eggs 3 TBSP flour 1 tsp salt pinch pepper 1 cup chicken broth 1 can pineapple chunks, drained 1 TBSP corn starch 3 tsp soya sauce 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup white vinegar 1 TBSP molasses Parboil peppers for 5 minutes. Saute garlic in oil. In separate bowl, beat flour, eggs and seasonings. Dip the pork in the mixture and brown in the oil. Pour off excess oil add broth, pineapple and peppers. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Blend remaining ingredients. Add to pork. Stir until thick.

Chicken and sliders! Are you ready? Here goes: Season chicken pieces (with skin and bone for best flavour) with salt, pepper, and a bit of poultry seasoning. Brown chicken pieces in a large stock pot, using a little oil or margarine (butter will burn) if needed. I like to use a mix of breasts (for meat) and legs (for flavour). Add 1/4 cup white wine to the pot to deglaze (watch out, it spatters! And do it off the burner to prevent a blaze. This isn't flambe after all LOL. And this step is optional). Add enough water or chicken stock to cover pieces plus a bit more. Add a quartered onion, a carrot cut in two inch pieces, and a stalk of leafy celery cut in two. Add some peppercorns (about five). Bring to a boil or simmer, and allow to boil/simmer until the meat is tender and cooked through. If dh and dd aren't home I can add the veggies and they don't know. If they are home and will notice, I make do with onion powder. Sad but true! Now some notes. Bringing the pot to a gentle simmer, never allowing it to boil and keeping the chicken in for a very long time will yeild a flavourful clear base. Boiling it harder means the chicken will cook faster and you will get a good enough broth in a short time....but you will have to scoop foam and the base may be cloudy. I am not a purist. I go for the "boil it like crazy" camp so I can realistically get dinner on the table before midnight ;). Strain the broth, reserving chicken and discarding the veggies. Or, you can chop the veggies and return to the broth but they are very soft! Defat the broth if desired. You can now chill the broth and chicken separately to finish another day, which makes it easy to lift the solid fat off the broth if you want. Taste the broth. Season with salt and pepper, and some bouillon powder if needed. You want a nice flavourful broth or your finished dish will be bland. Dip out 1 cup (8 ounces). Bring broth to a boil. In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine four to five cups of all purpose flour, a dash of salt, some pepper, and a knife tip of baking powder (less than 1/4 tsp). Pulse once or twice to combine. Beat one egg with a tbsp or so of water. Stir into reserved broth (it can be warm, but not scalding hot or you will have scrambled eggs). Start the machine, and slowly drizzle the liquid in. Allow to process until the dough comes together and follows the blade around the bowl. This is "kneading" the dough for you. If it does not come together after a good minute, add a bit more water until it does. Remove dough from processor, divide into four pieces, and wrap individually in plastic wrap. Let rest at least 20 minutes. Roll out dough, using flour liberally, until desired thickness. Not too thick, these are nice toothsome noodles and you don't want bricks! Cut into strips then across into rectangles. Drop into boiling broth, stirring after adding to keep them from sticking. Repeat with remaining parts of dough. After you add the last noodle, let the pot boil for a few minutes to make sure they are all cooked through, stirring often. If the juices are not a thick gravy by now, you can add a flour/water slurry to thicken more. Pull cooked chicken from bones, discarding any skin or ick (rofl!). Stir meat back into the pot with the noodles and gravy. My mother would reserve the meat for another use, and serve the above with fried chicken. We eat this with mashed potatoes and corn....the only time I ever knew my mother to serve more than one starch at a meal! It reheats well, but you might want to add some water as the juices really thicken after refrigeration.