How to prepare green beans

Green beans are all good...

...except for the two ends or tips, which have to be removed - that's the whole job of preparing them.

There are 2 methods for achieving this.

The "old-fashioned" way

Take each bean in your hand, then with the other hand break off the tip by bending it, throw it away, then do the same with the other tip.

To obtain a bean like this.

This is the procedure when dealing with stringy beans, and breaking the tip by hand also removes the threads.
No secret, it's quite a long process...

Perhaps it's something you've already done, back in the day, at your grandmother's house?

Quick method

With stringy beans all but extinct these days, a much quicker method is to take a small packet of beans...

...and cutting off all the ends at once, on one side...

...then the other.

Use the method of your choice for all the beans, and place them in a colander.

Then wash them, and your green beans are ready to cook.

Cooking

Cook the beans in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender.

Drain and refresh under cold running water to stop cooking immediately.

Drain again carefully.

You can then cut them into pieces (more or less small), depending on your recipe.

If you intend to use them in a salad, I recommend drying them carefully in a tea towel beforehand, to remove any cooking water that might interfere with your salad dressing.

Alternatively, you can spin them.