4th of July ....then and now.

Baked Beans
2 pounds navy beans
Small bottle of catsup
1 tsp soda
1 whole onion
1/2 pound salt pork, sliced very thin
1 T prepared mustard
1/2 sorghum or molasses
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Soak Bean overnight. Add soda and cook for 10 minutes. Drain. Rinse. Add salt pork and cover with boiling water. Cover and cook for 1 hour. Drain off part of the liquid and pour into baking dish or bean pot. Add remaining ingredients and bake at 300 degrees F for 3 hours.

Chicken Gumbo
1 chicken, about 3 pounds
4 tsp salt
1 pound ham diced
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 minced onion
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 # 21/2 can tomatoes
1 sprig fresh parsley
1 can okra
2 T butter
1 diced pimento
4 T browned Flour
1 sprig fresh thyme
4 c chicken stock

Cut up chicken. Place in kettle and cover with ice cold water. Bring slowly to a biol. Simmer until chicken is tender. Remove meat from bones. Brown the ham. Add the chicken, vegetables, and seasonings. Simmer gently. Melt the butter and add the browned flour (brown flour in oven at 350 degrees) Add 2 cups of chicken stock and cook until well blended. Add remaining stock, chicken, ham, and vegetables. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Serve with a border of your favorite rice. Green Salad, cornbread & honey butter make this a meal! Umm-Umm Good!

Sauerbraten
Vinegar enough to cover meat
plus 1/3 more water
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp cloves
1 onion sliced
5 pounds chuck roast
3 tsp salt
4-6 gingersnaps
1/2 tsp dry mustard cream
1/2 tsp pepper

Mix vinegar, water, onion, and seasonings. Boil 5 minutes. Pour over the meat. Let stand 2-3 days in the back of the refrigerator. Roast meat in a little of the brine for 3 hours. Start oven at 500 degrees and lower after 30 minutes to 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.

Gravy: Add cream to the drippings and thicken with crushed gingersnaps.


Stuffed Bell Peppers serves 6
6 medium green, red, and/or yellow sweet peppers
1 pound ground beef or pork
1 large chopped onion
1 clove of garlic
1 10-ounce frozen wild rice and white rice mixture thawed
1 4ounce can sliced drained mushrooms
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs (I used crushed cornflakes)
1/4 c butter or margarine cut in to pieces
1/4 c grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
Dash dried crushed oregano
3 eggs slightly beaten
6 T fine dry bread crumbs
1 T butter or margarine
2 slices American Processed cheese

Cut off the tops of the peppers. Carefully remove & discard the membranes and seeds from the inside of each pepper. Place the sweet peppers right side up in a large saucepan. Fill the saucepan with enough "cold water" to cover the sweet peppers. Bring the water to a boil for 3-4 minutes or until the sweet peppers are just tendeer. Using tongs, carefully invert & place the peppers on paper towels to drain.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook your meat, onion, green onions & garlic until the meat is no longer pink. Drain: discard the fat.

Add the rice, mushrooms, 1/2 the bread crumbs. 1/4 c butter or margarine, the Romano or Parmesan cheese, oregano, basil, and 1/4 tsp pepper to the meat mixture, stirring to mix the ingredients and to melt the butter/margarine. Remove from the skillet from the heat and carefully stir in the eggs. Return to the skillet to very low heat and cook 5 minutes.

Place the sweet peppers right side up in a 13x9x2 baking dish. Fill the peppers with the rice mixture and sprinkle with bread crumbs and margarine to your tastes.

Bake these stuffed peppers at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and top with the sliced up slices of American cheese. Place back in the oven just long enough for the cheese to melt.