My Mom's Winter Bean Soup

My Mom's Winter Bean Soup - 

I love this soup to this day.  She called it a soup, but it is much thicker than a soup.  You could eat it with a fork on the second day.  I believe it was a recipe from her mother.
A little over a pound of beans - combination of beans works best.  Lima, pinto, northern, black-eyed, garbanzo, kidney, lentil, navy, just what ever you have on hand. 

2 ham hocks (I've used the store bought ones, for flavoring) 

Mom use to fry fresh sausage and set it aside. (I use a 1 pound sliced smoke sausage or ham, if I don't have ham hocks)
She said add a good pinch of salt, (I use 1/4 teaspoon salt)
She said add a "good sprinklin" of chili powder, (I use 1 teaspoon chili powder)
Juice of one real lemon
1 tablespoon minced garlic (She said 3 cloves, I used store bought minced garlic from a jar and add two heaping teaspoons)
Add 1 stalk celery
Add 1 large chopped onion 

1 pound, twelve ounces of tomatoes - I use a can of whole tomatoes and "spoon" cut the tomatoes in pan.  (That just means I want the easy way and don't use a knife.)
Today Dec. 11th, 2010 I dropped in an old hunk of parmesan cheese for extra flavor - let it sit in there for about 15 minutes before pulling it out.  I'm eating a bowl as I type. Just realized I forgot salt, who cares, this is delish!

Soak beans over night in a couple quarts of water.  After soaking, drain, run some water over the beans and let drain.  Return beans to pot, add 2 quarts of fresh water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer uncovered for about 2 1/2 hours.  Now add all the other ingredients, with the exception of the smoked sausage.  Set it aside.  Simmer beans for about 25 minutes, and then add smoked sausage.  Let heat for another 5 to 10 minutes until the sausage gets hot.
by twisted-candy.com