Celebration Time

Hope you all had a great 4th of July! We had some friends over on Tuesday night, and then yesterday afternoon had a wonderful BBQ with the worship team from our church. I made a VAT of beans on Tuesday afternoon, knowing I'd get double duty out of them. I promise they're super delish - I've tweaked this recipe and I'm convinced it's practically perfect. So in the spirit of summer picnics, thought I'd share some bean love...

Baked Beans

1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
1/2 lb bacon, trimmed of excess fat, cooked and chopped
3/4 c onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 c brown sugar
1/3 c sugar
1/4 c ketchup
1/2 c prepared BBQ sauce
2 Tb spicy brown mustard
1 Tb dark molasses
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
2 cans butter beans (or white northern/cannellini beans)*
1 can kidney beans*
1 can black beans*
2 cans pork & beans
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp gr black pepper
1 1/2 tsp celery flakes

*all beans drained and rinsed

Stir together all ingredients, and bake at 350 for 1 hour, or in crock pot (high 4 hours, low 6+ hours).