• Pot of beans

    I’ve been on the lookout for a good baked bean recipe. The main requirement? That it not be sweet. I’ve tried several recipes, some sweetened with just a touch of molasses or a couple glugs of maple syrup, but they were always too bland, too blah.

    I love sweet baked beans, really I do, so I was starting to give up hope. Maybe I was destined to be a sweet baked bean eater only? Perhaps my taste buds were conditioned to expect lots of brown sugar and ketchup with my white beans and I would never be able to do better?


    But then I tried this recipe and my baked bean lot was revolutionized. A tomato-based baked bean dish with a bit of bacon and onions and garlic, these beans only use a couple tablespoons of honey to sweeten them up. And that’s all they need! They’re rich and flavorful, and absolutely delicious. Now I have a baked bean dish I can serve without feeling guilty.


    A side note: my kids didn’t go for them—but then, they don’t go for any baked beans—and they did eat up their no-thank-you serving easily enough so I have hope. And my husband said, “These could really grow on me. Regular baked beans are way too sweet.” That reserved statement, my friends, was as good as any royal stamp of approval. These beans will be our summer staple. Amen.


    Baked Beans
    Adapted from Simply Recipes

    I used my roasted tomato sauce—it was, of course, divine (you really must can some for yourself this summer)—but you can use a standard tomato sauce, or extra tomato paste and more broth. Play around with what you have on hand.

    The bacon adds good flavor—so good, in fact, that I think a quarter pound of ground sausage would be a lovely addition. I love pork.

    I did not have fresh parsley on hand so I used a couple teaspoons of dried. It was fine, but I think the fresh would add a delightful kick, so if you have it, use it.

    1 pound dried white beans (I used Great Northern)
    1/4 pound bacon, cut in half lengthwise and then chopped into smallish pieces
    1 tablespoon olive oil
    1 onion, diced
    4 cloves garlic, minced
    1 tablespoon fresh sage (or rosemary), minced
    ½ teaspoon chili flakes
    2 tablespoons honey
    2-4 tablespoons tomato paste
    1 pint roasted tomato sauce
    2 cups chicken (or beef) stock
    ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
    2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

    Soak the beans overnight. In the morning, rinse them and then simmer till soft. (Don’t forget to salt them while they’re cooking—it adds much more flavor to the final dish.)

    Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven (or other heavy cooking pot) and add the chopped bacon. Once it has browned, add the onion and saute till golden brown. Add the garlic, sage, and chili and cook for one minute. Add the honey and tomato paste and cook for another minute. Add the tomato sauce and stock and stir well. Bring the beans to a simmer and check for salt.

    Put a lid on the pot and slip it into a 325 degree oven. Bake for an ample hour—if the beans are still too soupy, take the lid off and let the moisture evaporate while it bakes a bit more.

    Immediately before serving, stir in the fresh parsley and vinegar.

    These beans can be made ahead of time, stored in the refrigerator or freezer, and then reheated in a crock pot. So stock up now—it’s summer time!

    This same time, years previous: meet the gang, shredded wheat bread, rhubarb jam (this jam is best eaten fresh)

  • Juxtaposed

    Everything feels a little surreal right now.

    It all started on Wednesday night when my husband and I stayed up till midnight watching The King’s Speech (one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time), and then I dreamed I was an actress—a very talented one, I might add. Royalty and British accents were involved. It was intense and fun and kind of overwhelming, this new life of fame and memorized lines.


    And then yesterday some neighbor girls came over to play and that was kind of surreal because I don’t relate to plain Mennonites in everyday life and then suddenly four of them were running around barefoot in my back yard.


    Besides, my mother grew up plain Mennonite so it felt like a step back in time … but a time that was before I was.

    This morning there was the royal wedding, a’course. I googled for some live streaming and was immediately immersed in the magic of it all. I couldn’t help myself. When it comes down to it, humans must be programmed to crave pomp and circumstance. (Yes, I’m slow on the uptake. Disney is not.)

    In the middle of all that—staring at the computer, the kids pitter-pattering downstairs, cracking eggs into a bowl for breakfast—I learned that my distant cousin (the niece and granddaughter of some very close family and friends) committed suicide on Wednesday. Her death comes as a complete surprise to the family. She was 23.

    And just like that, right there in my morning kitchen, a lovely fairytale and a family’s complete pain and devastation were standing side by side.

    The contrast is surreal. I feel wobbly.

  • Spray, soup, and everything in between

    Thanks for all your sweet suggestions and advice regarding yesterday’s post. You guys are the bestest.

    We think we know what caused the eye-popping allergic reaction: wasp spray. As in, the poison that you spray to kill wasps (not poison that wasps spray to kill humans—that’s silly) and then somehow (?!?) get on the tricycle and then the little tyke rides the trike and everything goes downhill from there.


    It was the big kids that actually figured it out (and we’re still not for certain—it’s our best guess, though). After yesterday’s allergic reaction (which was very mild and not at all alarming because I knew what it was—knowledge does wonders for fear reduction), the big kids went outside to do some sleuthing and then recalled the Sunday evening wasp-spraying session. I was not a part of the event, unlike the other adult member of the house, and if I was feeling at all underhanded I would say things like, like—well, never mind.

    Hey, IT’S FREAKIN’ STUPID TO SPRAY POISON AROUND KIDDY TOYS, YOU NUMBSKULL!

    Oops, sorry. That just slipped out.

    Anyway, the kids washed the trike and were getting ready to scrub down the porch with the pressure washer but I stopped them because, dude, it’s a pressure washer. I didn’t want to run the risk of anyone getting their eyes blasted out of their head.

    Nickel has been fine since then, so I’m hoping it was the spray and not something seasonal, herbal, or animal.

    In other news…

    *The child who kicks doctors had a FABULOUS dentist appointment yesterday. She sported her sunglasses and nitrous mask with serene aloofness, permitted them to yank her loose tooth, and didn’t even flinch when they jabbed a needle into her gums three different times.


    I do believe the kid is growing up, hallelujah.

    *Two days after our neighbors’ horse had a baby, they called us up to come see her.


    She was fuzzy as a baby chick and skittish.


    The kids loved on her so heavy that by the end she was nuzzling them. So sweet.

    *We have a new nook.


    After relocating the two bookcases (one is leaving the house completely), John moved in a table and chairs, hung a light, and stuck a board on the wall and called it a shelf. I tacked a map to the wall (crookedly, my One True Love informed me), and filled the shelf with art supplies and obscene piles of scrap paper.


    The kids love their new spot. Heck, I love their new spot. Now they can be in the same room as me and do their artsy-fartsy stuff without getting all up in my business. I think this is what is called a win-win situation.

    *The rest of the house looks like a couple of obsessed-with-getting-rid-of-things people tore through it, piled everything that was on the shelves onto the floors, and then up and left.


    Which is pretty much what happened, though we didn’t actually leave.

    We’re in the middle of rearranging a couple bedrooms, getting rid of as many books as possible, installing shelves, putting in window screens, and sorting papers. It’s hairy and scary and I can’t wait till we’re done.

    *I made soup.


    I know now’s not the time to talk about soup what with it being sunny and hot and all (at least in my corner of the world), but seeing as this weather’s been rather crazy, I’m assuming we’ll all get a few more cold snaps before true armpit soaker weather hits.

    When that chilly weather whistles at your door, make this. It’ll do you good.


    Roasted Carrot and Red Lentil Soup
    Adapted from Luisa of The Wednesday Chef

    I used about 1/4 teaspoon of chipotle powder and it was too spicy for the kids. If serving it to sensitive palates, adjust accordingly.

    1 ½ pounds carrots, peeled
    5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
    1 teaspoon salt
    freshly ground black pepper
    1 onion, thinly sliced
    1/8 – 1/4 chipotle powder (or cayenne)
    1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
    1 cup red lentils, rinsed
    4 cups chicken broth

    Arrange the carrots on a baking sheet, toss with three tablespoons of the oil and sprinkle with the salt a couple grinds of black pepper. Roast the carrots at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, stirring once. Add the onions slices and roast another 15 minutes. The vegetables should be fork tender and flecked with black.

    Once the carrots have cooled a little, chop into bite-sized pieces. Put the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a soup pot, add the vegetables and chipotle powder and paprika and saute for a minute or two. Add the lentils and chicken broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer till the lentils are soft, about 25 minutes. Taste to correct seasonings before serving.

    This same time, years previous: me and you, and the radishes, the perils of homemade chicken broth, the Monday rambles, creamed asparagus on toast (this is GOOD), sticking my neck out, and shoofly pie