Family Recipes~And Forever Friends

A small section of the murals at The Beach Chalet Restaurant
in San Francisco that I photographed this
week when we went over for dinner.

Don't you just love having your old family recipes? You know what I mean, the ones your mother use to make for you as a child, the ones that were always a part of your traditions, the ones that brought you comfort and still do. Sometimes when I make a recipe of my mom's it is almost like she is right here with me again. And in many ways she is.

Several years ago I set about to create a family cookbook. Well, it never did quite come to fruition but I did manage to collect some of our favorites from older family members that are now gone. Then one time while transferring information from an old computer to a new one the recipes disappeared. I was devastated! Well, fortunately for me, it was a PICNIC problem. This is an acronym for what my friend calls Problem in Chair Not In Computer. PICNIC problems of this nature arise for me a lot so I am use to them. But losing the recipes was not easy to swallow.

So a few weeks ago I was working on organizing my genealogy files and quite appropriately my recipes reappeared. Because aren't family recipes a part of our family history? Definitely. They were filed under one of the obscure titles that one chooses so they won't forget where the files are and then promptly forgets what the chosen name is. Mamma Mia!

One thing I adore about old recipes from the 50s and 60s is their simplicity. The ingredients are simple and straight forward. Basically they are just down home cooking with no fancy frills attached. You never look at a recipe from that era and ask, "What is that ingredient and where on earth can I find it?" Hate that when I am trying to make something.

So this past week we had a dinner party and we decided to make one of our tried and true recipes from my mom. The menu consisted of baby back ribs, macaroni salad, a green salad with lots of veggies and some fruit in it and my Mom's Famous Baked Beans and garlic bread. These beans are delicious with all kind of picnic faire and yummy with autumn comfort foods too.

The recipe for the baked beans is simple and delicious!

Here Jim is has cut up a pound
of bacon and is browning it.

We cook this in this old pan that doesn't even have handles anymore. We use it so it can just go directly into the oven when we are finished assembling the baked beans. He then removed the crispy bacon from the pan.

Next he is chopping one large onion
after this he will do one large bell pepper.

He then sauteed the onion and the pepper
in a tiny bit of the bacon grease
after removing 95% of it.And added the bacon back in.

Taking cooking photos is fun if you can catch some
of the action/movement of what you are doing
like pouring the Ketchup!

Then we put in 2 (29 to 31 oz) cans of pork and beans.

Use as much as you need for your crowd
and then just adjust the other ingredients accordingly.
Pour in a small bottle of ketchup.

Add 2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce

Add a cup and a half of firmly packed brown sugar

Then we baked it for 3.5 to 4 hours in the oven at 250*
degrees. We then put the baked beans
in our crockpot for reheating the next
night for our dinner party.
We love cooking ahead so we can have a
more relaxed evening with our guests.

Ingredients:
2 cans 31 oz. Pork and Beans
1 lb browned, lean Bacon (oxymoron I know)
1 large Onion~chopped
1 large Bell Pepper~chopped
1 small bottle of Ketchup

Combine ingredients and slow bake
at 250* for 3 to 4 hours. Enjoy!

Here are the baby back ribs.

I got them at Sam's Club, I'm not ashamed to admit.
You can find them in the same case
as the hot roasted chickens.
They were wonderful and all you do is cut apart,
for easier handling and eating
and add a little extra BBQ sauce and cover and
heat for one hour or so before serving
at 250* with a tight foil
cover over your dish.

If you don't have a Sam's Club. Sorry
you will have to make them yourself!
Or serve them with just about any other meat.

The table cloth is a little wild but great for the Fall.

Everything but the guests now complete the tablescape,
and it is time to invite them in from the family room.
I removed my big centerpiece and added
this great candle holder that keeps the ambiance
just perfectly candle lit and you can
actually see everyone without an obstructed view.
Win/Win

And here they are! The best part of the evening!
Our wonderful Family Home Evening Group
minus one couple that could not make it.

To see the recipe for the dessert I made for this dinner go here
http://tinyurl.com/44xry2p

When you host the dinner for the group for the month you do everything including the Gospel related lesson. That makes it so nice for everyone because then for three months you just get to go and not worry about anything for that one evening. Jim and I shared some thoughts on genealogy and family history with them. It was a fun evening for us and we hope they felt the same. Wish you could join us for such an occasion one day!