Doctored Beans

One of the pleasures of writing about whatever we're eating for dinner is that it often brings back memories from long ago to enjoy - or not, depending on the memory.

Because my birthday falls in February, I was not allowed to begin kindergarten even though my mother believed I was ready - or perhaps she was just eager to get that last kid out the door so she could have some peace and quiet! In any case, three of the mothers in our neighborhood felt the same way so they signed up for a Calvert School course and decided to home school their budding geniuses. They took turns preparing and presenting the lessons and some of my earliest memories are of my mother painstakingly printing out letters for me to copy.

By far, my favorite classmate was Sandy Ferguson; I can't even remember the name of the other kid in the class. Sandy was my best friend even before we started school together; we played well and never quarreled, something of a rarity with me and my friends. Very simply, I loved him.

Then, one day we were playing a very interesting game of doctor when Mrs. Ferguson discovered us. As I recall, I had Sandy stretched out on the ironing board and was about to take his temperature rectally when I looked up into Mrs. Ferguson's horrified face.

Although I was sent home immediately with a flea in my ear, Mrs. Ferguson did forgive me once she got over the shock and even gave us her recipe for baked beans, which I still make today. I don't always follow the recipe exactly; I leave out the brown sugar and go light on the maple syrup and, if I don't have apples in the house, I sometimes resort to unsweetened apple butter. The onions and oranges, however, are key ingredients, not to be messed with.

Mrs. Ferguson's Baked Beans

4 #2 jars of B & M Baked Beans (#2 jars ae 1 lb. 3oz. jars)
1 large Bermuda onion, sliced
1 large unpeeled orange, sliced (I used tangerines this time and they worked fine)
1 large unpeeled apple, sliced (or use unsweetened apple butter)
1 cup brown sugar (I omit this altogether)
20 whole cloves
1 cup (real) maple syrup

Grease the baking pot with the salt pork from the can of beans, line with a layer of onion rings, orange and apple slices, 1 jar of beans, 1/4 of the brown sugar, cloves, and syrup. Repeat until bean pot is almost full with alternating layers. Cover and bake 8-10 hours at 200 degrees.

Needless to say, I don't make this amount for just the two of us and I don't bake it for that long. Two or three hours at 300 degrees is fine. I serve this with tube steak and that wonderful Boston brown bread that comes in a can, thinly sliced and spread with cream cheese. I don't know if that's traditional, but it's how it was always done in my family.

I wonder where Sandy Ferguson is today and I wonder if Mrs. Ferguson chuckles over the memory as I do.

Elna's Maple Sugar Tart

When I was a young bride, First Hubby's mother was a wonderful woman named Elna who was a homemaker in the truest and best sense of the word. To my knowledge, she never worked outside the home, although she worked like a stevedore inside it. Her house was immaculate, her daughter's clothes handmade and her cooking out of this world. One could learn to hate such an accomplished woman if she weren't also very, very nice.

She taught me how to make one of her son's favorite treats, Maple Sugar Tart. This tiny tart is made from the crust scraps left over from a pie (did I mention that she was also admirably frugal?); the only ingredients are maple sugar, flour, salt and milk. First Hubby usually got to eat it all by himself as his mother was selfless as well as accomplished, but he had to share when I came into his life; sometimes, it was better for domestic harmony just to make two.

Maple Sugar Tart

Line a 3"- 4" tart pan (I use one with a removable bottom) with pastry dough scraps from a pie. Combine 1/2 cup packed maple sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, very little salt and 1/4 cup milk and pour into the tart pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees, then reduce to 350 degrees until thick (about 20 minutes) or bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Best served warm.