I can't remember how old I was, but I do remember the Columbus Day storm, October 12 because the school I was going to dismissed classes so children could go home and be safe with their parents. What the school didn't know is when I got home, I had chores to do outside in the barns feeding the younger calves milk, breaking bales of alfalfa feed into stalls and feeding grain to the older calves. The moto around our house was, "if you don't feed the stock, you don't eat."
The wind was howling and blowing and I could hardly walk the 150 or so yards to the barns. I jumped up into the grainery, got the feed and when I jumped down, a part of the barn roof flew by and hit the ground next to where I was standing. Talk about being scared! I never told my parents about my close call and hurried back to the house to eat supper.
When I got back home, the electricty had gone out, and my mother had the old Coleman camp stove out and was heating baked beans so that our family could have something to eat for supper. Its a good thing my mother had made something simple for supper and all she had to do was finish it up on the outdoor stove. My mother always made fresh homemade bread to go with baked beans and the rolls had been sitting out for their final rising before baking. That night we didn't get any fresh bread because the oven didn't work and I remember how disappointed I was because there's nothing better than fresh homemade bread with soup or baked beans.
I've made my mother's baked beans many times and have received compliments on how good they tasted and comments like, "What did you put in those beans?" So here's the most simple baked bean recipe there is. Any one can make these beans. All you have to do is add a bit of love and a store bought loaf of fresh artisan bread.
Momma's Baked Beans
1 bag baked beans (rinse the beans and let them stand in water to soak overnight)
3-6 hamhocks or you can use a ham bone with ham still on it
1 diced onion
1 carrot, diced
Drain the beans you have soaked overnight and place them in a large stockpot. Add the hamhocks, onion, carrot and 1 teaspoon of salt. Fill the stockpot up to half full. Cook this until the hamhocks start to break down. This will take anywhere from 2-3 hours.
Add a sauce of 1/3 cup molasses and 1/3 cup ketchup. Taste the beans to make sure they have enough flavor. You may need to adjust the sauce mix by adding a bit more molasses or ketchup, but the above recommendation should work.
Mix into the bean mixture. Continue to cook the beans until they are thickened and tender. If you have too much liquid, you can always take some of it out before adding the sauce. Once the mixture has thickened, you're ready to serve. (If the sauce doesn't thicken, you can always use a slurry. This is a mixture of 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 1/2 cup water. Mix the slurry and add it to the bean mixture a bit at a time until you get the thickness you want in the sauce.)Be sure to take the meat off the hamhock bones and add it back into the beans. Of course, beans taste best after they have been in the fridge for a day so if you can wait, you can put the finished beans in the fridge and reheat them the next day. These beans also freeze well.
You can also use a crock pot to make these beans and cook them all day. When you get home after work, your meal is ready. This recipe will feed a large family of 6 people. Enjoy and stay dry.
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