Gotta Have Those Beans!

If tomorrow is the 4th of July, then today is National Eat Your Beans Day. I wonder if this day was chosen as a prep day for the beans we will surely be serving tomorrow, or if we’re actually supposed to cook our beans and eat them, too.

The beauty of doctored canned beans is that we could make them today, taste them today (as in eat your beans), but serve them tomorrow. After all, the longer beans “ferment” in their juices, the greater the depth of flavor. You could slow-cook them today, and simply warm them tomorrow. A double bang so to speak.

I seem to make a lot of beans in the summer. When we got together over Memorial Day Weekend, I had to make some beans for Pops. It’s an unspoken agreement between us. Dad looks forward to my beans, and I always make more than necessary so he can take beans home with him.

We had a family baby shower in June that was a potluck gathering. (By the way, we are expecting our first Great Grandchild!!) Beans were my contribution. After all, beans are generally a hit with people, and travel so well. For those reasons alone, beans are the perfect potluck dish. Happy Eat Your Beans Day!

Cheater’s Country Style Oven Baked Beans
8 strips thick Bacon
1/2 Yellow Onion
4 large cans Bushes Country Style Beans
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
Hickory Smoked Salt to taste

Heat oven to 300 degrees.

Chop 4 strips of bacon into small pieces. Fry until nearly crisp. Remove from skillet with a slotted spoon, leaving behind the bacon fat.

Dice onion, quick fry in bacon fat just to give smoky flavor. Set aside.

Empty beans into a large baking dish. Stir in cooked bacon, onions and brown sugar. Lay remaining 4 strips of bacon over the beans. Cover tightly with foil.

Place in the heated oven, bake for 3 hours. Uncover, increase heat to 325 and let bacon crisp.

Keep warm until ready to serve.