The home cook book

Wash thoroughly. Put in a crock to soak overnight. Three pints of beans will make two average-sized baking dishes of baked beans. In the morning put the beans in a granite soup kettle. Pour over them the water in which they have been soaked and add warm water enough to come a little more than two inches above the beans. After they have cooked an hour add three-quarters of a pound of fat salt pork. Season with salt and pepper to taste and one tablespoon of white sugar. Boil slowly and steadily five hours. After they begin to thicken, set the pot on an asbestos plate to prevent burning. Stir occasionally, and taste as to seasoning of salt and pepper. If the beans are needed for an evening meal, after they have boiled the given time, set them where they will keep hot without cooking any more. One hour before they are needed turn them into a colander. Drain ofif the liquor, of which there will be very little, as the beans will be soft. Put them in the pudding dish to within one inch or less from the top. Pour over a little of the liquid. Score the pork three or four times and put it in the middle of the beans. Set in the upper oven of the stove and brown lightly, and serve. The next day make into cakes the same as potato cakes. Dip your hands in cold water and mold the beans into shape. Put them in a frying-pan with just enough lard to brown. Cover while browning. They should be slightly crisp. In browning potato cakes or beans, or anything of that sort, never turn them until they are thoroughly brown, or they will lose their shape and not be satisfactory. In cooking this quantity of beans you will probably have a dish ready for the next day. BOSTON BAKED BEANS Soak overnight one quart of small white beans. Next morning cover with water and let come to boil, but do not boil. Set back and simmer a few minutes and pour off the water. Have a bean pot ready; put in the beans; stir in salt to taste, and two tablespoons of molasses ; place in the centre A Boston Bean Pot a piece of scored, fat salt pork weighing three-quarters of a pound ; add enough water to rise to the top of the beans ; cover tight and bake all day, with an even, slow heat. BAKED BEANS WITH TOMATO SAUCE Proceed as in the foregoing directions until you put the beans in the pot. At that point, instead of adding the water, add a quart of stewed and strained tomatoes, seasoned with a teaspoon of salt and a heaping tablespoon of sugar. Pour this over the beans and pork ; open here and there with a fork for the tomato sauce to run down and season the beans; cover the pot tight and bake slowly all day. FRESH LIMA OR BUTTER BEANS Put the beans in cold water for half an hour. Pour off the cold water. Put them in a saucepan and cover with hot water. After a few minutes' boiling, season with salt and pepper. Salt the beans carefully, as it is very easy to spoil