Baked Beans

Growing up, my paternal grandmother, Polly, was known for her baked beans. We usually had them at our Easter meal at their house, accompanied by white bread sandwiches with homemade baked ham, potato salad, assorted "col'drinks" and lemon icebox pie. After stuffing ourselves, my sister and I impatiently awaited permission to go out in the front yard and hunt the eggs our parents had hidden in the creeping phlox that swept across the front of the property. More than once, we also found some "spring peepers" - the summer's singing frogs. (Always picked them up gently and put them right back - mom would've had a fit to find one in our pockets!)

Polly's beans are probably the best baked beans I've ever had. They're sweet, not overly smoky or onion-y like some homemade baked beans, and *should* retain the shape of the spoon when cooked correctly. (Thanks Joe B. for coining that reference last night - so, so true!) Mix up a batch and try them for yourselves!

2 regular-sized cans of pork and beans
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup ketchup
2 T. yellow mustard
1/2 lb. bacon, cut into small pieces.

Mix all together in a big bowl, turn out into an oblong baking dish (9x13 works great), and cook at 350 for an hour.