Yes, sometimes even BA staffers make basic cooking mistakes. Like, say, something as simple as beans. Below, special projects associate Lilli Sherman confesses her bean-cooking woes to digital food editor Dawn Perry. Here's Perry's advice for making sure it never happens again.

Dear Dawn, I love beans, but have always been intimidated about making them. Why do they have to soak overnight? How do I even know if I will want beans tomorrow? I am not a good planner, but when I decided one morning to make beans for friends that evening, associate food editor Claire Saffitz came to the rescue with a pressure cooker. It was my first time using the magical contraption [Ed. note: Here's our favorite!], and I must admit it added another layer of terror. With the promise of cutting down my cooking time by half, I set out on my bean mission with this new contraption. Inspired by the October 2014 "Party Issue" to host more, I decided to cook the White Beans and Charred Broccoli with Parmesan recipe from the dinner party story featuring The Line. I imagined hosting a casual autumn soirée; perhaps the food would even make us more attractive like the babes in the feature. However, I was rushing. Once the timer went off on the pressure cooker, I rushed to get those bad boys out of the water and on to the plate to join their friends, lemon zest and broccoli. What I ended up with were mushy and grainy beans. No flavor, no texture, just brown mush. Sadly the dish was a fail. My dreams of being transported to a bathtub of DP bottles was not realized, and I must know: Where did I go wrong? XXX,

Lilli, Bummed over Beans

Dear LBOB,

I too am a rusher. And I'm not a good planner, either. I mean, how will I know what I want to eat tomorrow, when I don't even know what I want for dinner tonight? Which is why the pressure cooker, when you figure it out (and believe me, I'm still getting the hang of it) is such a great solution for those of us who prefer to wing it.

But it sounds like a couple things went wrong. First, the beans were overcooked. This is not a big deal. Those pressure cookers can be tricky to master at first, so just give yourself some time to play with it before entertaining again. Most pressure cookers come with a guidebook that tells you how long to cook stuff, but truthfully those aren't a ton of help. When we were test-driving pressure cookers, we relied heavily on HipPressureCooking.com and its super comprehensive charts for times, temperatures, and pressure settings for a ton of different ingredients. While every machine will differ slightly, check that out for a ballpark range.

Second sad thing: flavorless beans. Rushing will bite you in the bum almost every time. And cutting your cooking time in half isn't always a good thing. Especially in the case of these beans, which get the bulk of their flavor during a two-hour simmer time in a flavorful broth of Parmesan, onion, and garlic. Conventional bean cooking also allows the liquid to reduce slightly as it simmers, concentrating those flavors and penetrating the beans. So, you've got a couple options:

1) Just soak the beans and cook conventionally. Beans freeze beautifully in their cooking liquid so even if you end up eating out or not in the mood, the beans can wait for you.

2) Double up on those aromatics. I might even try throwing some other things in there: A few sprigs of rosemary, a bay leaf, a couple stalks of celery. I also think beans tend to take on the flavor of their cooking liquid more if they have a chance to sit in there for awhile. Salt the water, pour you and your fabulous guest another glass of Dom Perignon, and let the beans relax for 15 or 20 minutes before you finish the dish. I think this will definitely help.

Ah, the rushing. It never gets us to dinner, or work, or the next big thing any faster. It just agitates the rusher. Take your time. Relax, like the beans.

Love,

Dawn