beans beans more beans please!

Just having consumed more than my share, I am in love with this pot of beans, the secret seems to be adding an onion, simply skinned and sliced in half, that miraculously vanishes into the beans.......that is the only difference between this batch and the last and the end result was fantastic! I assumed I would have large chunks of onion to fish out, but nope they melted into the pinto beans! in case anyone wants it here is the recipe: 1 16oz bag of dried pinto beans (soaked in 8 cups of water and left overnight in the fridge covered) 1 medium white onion 2 bay leaves 1 ham hock 1/2 t sea salt 1/2 t pepper water 2 cloves of garlic Rinse beans after soaking them overnight and discard bean water, I used it to water plants outside, put beans in large stockpot with ham hock and cover with fresh water so that there is about 2 inches of water above the bean line, put on stove on medium high heat, cut onion in half and remove skin and ends, add to beans with bay leaves and garlic, cover pot and let cook about 2 hours, stirring occassionally, about 1/2 hour before serving add salt and pepper and when your beans look like the picture they are done, test a bean and make sure it is tender enough to your liking, this pot cooked in about 3 hours total. The surprise for me is that the onion simply vanished into the beans, melted right into the gravy of the pot, i was quite surprised! Remove Bay leaves, scoop and serve, i topped with raw onion slices and sour cream and cornbread....but if you overcook them you can then have homemade refried beans for burritos, I have done that before, and they taste great in flour tortillas!