My Aunt Janie's Pennsylvania Baked Beans

    I love to eat beans.  That's probably because my dad grew up eating lots of beans.   I first had these beans at my Aunt Janie's farm where my father grew up.  Now this isn't any old farmhouse.  This colonial looking farm house has been in our family now for four generations. In 2006 I helped my father drive out to this farm that nestled in the rolling hills of the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania.

    No farm visit is complete without a cookout, that's what we out West would call a BBQ.  We had hamburgers, corn on the cob that just came off the field, potato salad, and these amazing baked beans.  This is that  recipe. 

   I'm sure you're aware that there's something  special about family recipes.  I've only adjusted a few things on her recipe like lessening the amount of cloves and using tomato sauce instead of tomato paste.

My Aunt Janie’s Pennsylvania Baked Beans

1. Cook up 3 cups of northern/navy beans: 
(1)   Soak 3 cups of navy or northern beans in water a few inches above them; drain them in the morning.
(2)  Then add enough water to go a few inches over the top of the beans and cook on medium high heat until tender but not mushy.  This takes about 1 ½ hours.  Reserve the liquid. You can also  put them in a crock pot for a few hours. 

2. Mix up in a bowl: 

(1)  One 15 oz can of tomato sauce
(2)  Stir in 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 2-4 T molasses and 2 squirts of mustard
(3)  Then stir in the seasonings: 1/8 tsp. cloves, 1 T salt, 1/2 tsp. of black paper.
(4)  Add  ½ of an onion diced up, and ½ of a diced green pepper. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

3. Combine ingredients:  
Mix the tomato sauce mixture with the beans and then add any remaining liquid off the beans to bring the beans to the right consistency. 

4.  Bake: Put in an 9 x 13 glass/stoneware pan and bake at 250 for 2 hours.  After the first hour you can check them and see if you need to add any more of the drained bean liquid.

List of Vegetarian Recipes on this Blog:

Pasta:

Oh So Good Vegetarian Lasagna  (From Internet search)

Fantastic Gluten Free Macaroni & Cheese  (Modified from Heritage & Internet search)
Making Pad Thai With a Thai Student  (Omit the chicken)

Other Main Dish Entrees:

Cheese & Vegetable Enchiladas

Scalloped Potatoes  (My Mother-in-law's recipe)

Amazing Vegetable Panang Curry  

Make Your Own Thai Fresh Rolls 

Gluten Free Mexican Quinoa Casserole  (From an Internet search)

Recipes with Quinoa:

Baja Salad with Black Beans & Quinoa   (My copycat of a salad I had at a restaurant)

Gluten Free Mexican Quinoa Casserole

Tofu & Rice Main Dishes:

Gluten Free Tofu & Vegetable Stir Fry   (Modified from Internet)

Orange "Beef" Tofu Stir Fry   (Modified from Internet)

Vietnamese Saigon Style Tofu Curry  (Idea from Internet search; curry sauce recipe from a friend)

Fabulous Gluten Free Fried Rice

Beans:

Best Recipe for Boston Baked Beans

Grandma Pitcher's Family Favorite Baked Beans   (My husband's grandmother gave me this)

My Aunt Janie's Pennsylvania Baked Beans   (From my aunt)

Breakfast for Dinner:

Hash Brown Egg Casserole  (From my friend Lisa)

Mexican Migas Breakfast Casserole  (Modified from a recipe from an airport cookbook)

Baked Zucchini Frittata  (I picked this up from a Whidbey Island farmer's market)