Pat's Baked Beans

Pic courtesy of allrecipes.com

I LOVE baked beans- love, love, love 'em. I'm not talking about the open and pour canned ones, but the real, homemade ones. They are my favorite thing about BBQ's. So, when we were invited to Christian's work BBQ for Pioneer Day last weekend, I decided I'd try and whip up a batch to bring. I went to my go-to place for basic recipes like this: allrecipes.com and found the highest and most-rated recipe for baked beans. Let me just tell ya, if you want a way to make perfectly healthy beans into a nice, gooey, sweet, and tangy confection, you must try these at your next BBQ.

Pat's Baked Beans
adapted from allrecipes.com

• 8 slices bacon
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 (16 ounce) cans pinto beans
• 1 (16 ounce) cans great Northern beans, drained
• 1 (16 ounce) can baked beans
• 1 (16 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of drippings, crumble and set aside in a large bowl. Cook the onion and garlic in the reserved drippings until onion is tender; drain excess grease and transfer to the bowl with the bacon.
3. To the bacon and onions add pinto beans, northern beans, baked beans, and kidney beans. Stir in ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and black pepper. Mix well and transfer to a 9x12 inch casserole dish.
4. Cover and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.