OD's Beans for A Crowd

IT ALL STARTED when I was visiting with some folks down at the clubhouse a few weeks ago chatting about an upcoming smoked rib dinner they were going to host for the Saturday before Easter. Their menu was to include baked beans and I inquired about their method of baking beans. She talked about taking canned beans and doctoring them up a bit with ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar. You can see how this story is going . . . of course I had to chime in to say "I have a secret recipe for baked beans that are out of this world!" So I told her the story of Daddy baking beans nearly every Friday and taking them into J&J and all his customers from miles around would come by the shop to get a taste of his famous beans.

AND THEN I TOLD HER the story of getting Daddy to teach us how to make those beans because he had the technique in his head and no recipe at all. We spent a weekend with the folks RVing at the beach. The whole purpose of the weekend was to write down everything he did while making a batch of his beans . . . the recipe developed as we'd follow him back and forth from the beach to the motorhome while he "drizzled and sprinkled," jotting down his every move . . . so now the whole family can make "ODs Baked Beans!"

After hearing the story she asked "Would you like to make those beans for the park dinner?" I gladly agreed.

Now I've never made such a large quantity before. It was a whole lot of work because we had to 8-times the recipe and that makes for a lot of "drizzling and sprinkling." My best friend in the world, who happens to be my husband, helped me from the get-go this morning and we finished about six hours later. Check out the pictures and I think you'll agree that they're gonna be delicious and my Daddy would be so tickled to know that his beans will be enjoyed by 125 folks at one time!