Elizabeth Penney’s Classic Baked Beans #recipe #giveaway

We're delighted to welcome Elizabeth Penney to our kitchen! Her recipe today is perfect for these days when we're hunkered down waiting for good news. Her new book HEMS AND HOMICIDE is perfect too! Make sure to scroll all the way to the bottom and leave a comment to be entered in the drawing for a paperback or audio CD copy of HEMS AND HOMICIDE!

ELIZABETH PENNEY: Thank you to the wonderful authors of Mystery Lover’s Kitchen for including me as a guest! I love this site for its focus on a very important aspect of cozy mysteries: food.

Although I don’t include recipes in the Apron Shop Mystery Series, set in coastal Maine, food is still a key ingredient. But the food traditions of a place are integral to writing about it, I find, and are critical to creating an immersive experience for the reader. Plus who doesn’t love food?

I grew up in Maine and the state’s down-home cooking, which often incorporates local ingredients, is still a favorite. And nothing says Saturday night Maine more than a pot of steaming and savory baked beans. Bean suppers are still held by churches and other groups, and I’ll never forget one supper in Winthrop, Maine, decades ago. A virtual posse of lovely older ladies waited on us hand and foot, bringing fresh bowls of beans and side dishes while we ate our fill. Each batch of beans was different, but I’ve chosen to share a classic recipe inspired by one from Crosby’s Gold Star Molasses.

Classic Baked Beans Recipe:

4 cups dry small white beans (navy or pea)

1 cup molasses

½ lb. bacon or salt pork

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper (or more to taste)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1)    Wash beans and pick over, then soak for three hours in boiling water to cover. (heat off)

2)    Boil beans on stovetop for 50 minutes or so, until skins wrinkle when you blow on them.

3)    Drain beans, reserving cooking water. Add rest of ingredients and put in slow cooker with additional water to cover on low OR
Place in covered casserole dish or bean pot in a 325 degree oven.

4)    Check frequently and add more liquid if necessary.

5) Enjoy as a side dish with almost any meat. Tastes especially good with cole slaw or potato salad. A big bowl with fresh baked bread and butter is good, too.

Thanks Elizabeth! Friends, leave a comment and you could win a copy of this yummy book!

Elizabeth Penney lives in New Hampshire’s frozen north where she pens mysteries and tries to grow things. She’s the author of the Apron Shop Series, with book one, Hems and Homicide, available now, as well as numerous titles for Annie’s Fiction and Guideposts.

About Hems and Homicide:

Iris Buckley has taken the plunge—moving her online apron and vintage linen business to a storefront in quaint hometown Blueberry Cove, Maine. But the storefront she rented with her business partner grandmother comes with something extra—a skeleton from the 1970s. Then their wealthy landlord, who has ties to her grandmother’s past, is found murdered in the shop. Is Ruffles & Bows doomed to fail before it even opens?

Buy the book