Independence Day

Dogs, children, friends, pulled pork and my grandma's baked bean recipe made this day very extra-special.

Oma's Baked Beans:

1 can butter beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can lima beans
1 can white kidney beans
1 can (16 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 onion, sauteed in olive oil
2 tablespoons worcester sauce
1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar to taste
1 fat piece of bacon or pork belly
S+P to taste

Preheat oven to 270 degrees. Saute large onion and bacon in a dutch oven. Add the tomatoes, and then all of the drained beans. If you have time, my Oma liked to use mostly canned but one dried variety for extra texture and flavor. In this case pick which bean you would like to start as dry and soak overnight before cooking. After adding beans, stir in brown sugar and worcester sauce. Don't be afraid to stir in some catsup if the mood strikes you. We forgot to, but usually it is a featured ingredient. After this all has heated stove top, put the covered dutch oven into the oven. Bake for a couple of hours! It should reduce a bit and be bubbly, sweet and salty. This can be made vegetarian but vegetarians usually want to be lied to about baked beans with pork.

Sprout

The garden is in full sprout mode. My starts (tomatoes, peppers, basil) have all added on some serious inches, and the rest are doing their best to catch up. We found the ultimate vintage lounge chair and cast iron fire pit, and the bar is fully stocked. And yet Kevin and I are in the weirdest, most stressful position right now where we are waiting for our loan to finalize, but are living in the house in the mean time. So we don't own it... but we are supposed to... but we don't really feel comfortable unpacking... let alone getting comfortable... So. Mostly I am just having old man problems like heartburn and a short temper and Kevin is suffering horrible allergies and isn't his usual chipper self either.
My dad bought us a stove, being the hero that he is. It is from the 1950's and not only has two ovens but also one of them is a convection oven. He bought it "for my baking". Awww! Dad, didn't you get the memo? I've moved on to frying*!!!!!!! Seriously though, I hope we don't have to move out and find a place to store this thing. It's fucking huge.
I have decided, as an effort to avoid studying for finals (really- the fun never stops) to post a few photos from our fabulous rental property that hopefully by tomorrow will be ours for keepsies. Please admire my fruit trees, giant yard and stinky dogs.

*Now available at Pine State- my very own fried to order strawberry rhubarb hand-pies. They are SHIT HOT.