Pick through beans and remove any pieces of dirt or shrivled beans. Rinse well and drain in a colander.

Dice the bacon and sausage and place in heated stock pot with about 2 tablespoons cooking oil. Add chopped onion to the pot and saute until translucent.

Add garlic and saute until fragrant, do not brown.

Immediately add green bell pepper and celery and sauté for about a minute.

Add water to pot and add ham hocks and rinsed beans.

Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat to simmer.

Add remaining ingredients, except green onions and cook very slowly, partially covered, for 2 to 3 hours hours. Stir the mixture about every 30 minutes.

Beans are ready to serve when they are very tender and easily mashed with the back of a spoon and the liquid is thickened.

At this point, I use my stick blender and puree 2/3 of the beans to make a thick "gravy".

Stir in green onions and keep warm until ready to serve.

Serve over steamed white rice with garlic or French bread.