Soak the beans overnight in cold water.

The next morning dump the beans into a pot and cover with 6 cups of cold water. Add 1/2 onion, chopped, and the 4 bay leaves. Bring to a boil, skim, and reduce to simmer and cover. Cook until they are about 2/3 done and then start on the rest of the recipe.

Cook the bacon until crispy in a large skillet. Remove the bacon and crumble it but leave the grease in the pan (drain off some if there is a lot).

Remove the casing from the sausage. Cut lengthwise in half and then slice the sausage into half moons. Add it to the pan with bacon grease and brown the sausage. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and now add the 1 onion, chopped, to the pan. (You can either drain off some fat, or, alternatively, if there is not enough fat, add some olive oil.) Add a pinch of salt to the onions.

After onions have cooked for about 7 minutes, add the garlic and bell pepper. Cook for an additional 3 minutes.

Test the beans. When they are tender but still not creamy, add the sausage to the pot along with the cooked onions and peppers. Add the spices and seasoning (including hot sauce if using). Cook for at least 20 minutes.

When the beans are creamy, remove about 1 cup of them (not sausage) and mash them. Return them to the pot and stir in, to thicken. Add a drizzle of cider vinegar if you did not use the hot sauce. Taste for salt and pepper.

Serve on top of white rice, topped with parsley and crumbled bacon.