I saw in the book Nourishing Traditions that there was a lacto- fermented orange juice recipe of an ‘Orangina' type drink. You could also add a splash of grapefruit and lemon juice as well. One easy way is to simply mix fresh orange juice with sparkling water. I have been looking for a way to make a simpler, healthier version at home. Reading the ingredient label, though, suddenly made this drink not so appealing! Unfortunately, in the US, the second ingredient in the drink is HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP.

It seemed ‘fancy' to me at the time, a step above other traditional American sodas. I realize you can buy Orangina many places but for me, it will always be associated with New Jersey and bagels. Busier than a one-eyed cat watchin' two mouse holes.I can vividly remember cracking open the bottle of Orangina and loving the subtle sweetness of the sparkling orange beverage.So, how do you eat your cornbread? Plain or fancied up? These beans are even better than my Dad's! And I'll even throw in a confession here. And even went as far to say they were better than the beans we had at the smithy. He claimed he'd eat these beans every night of the week. This time The Engineer claimed it was the polar opposite of the beans he ate years ago. The saltiness of the beans paired with the sweetness of the syrup is a match made in heaven, let me tell ya. So mix up a batch of cornbread, bake it in a cast iron skillet and serve it with butter and a little maple syrup. I'm pretty sure it's a federal law that you have to serve it with cornbread. Bring it to a boil then cover and reduce to a simmer. I don't know why I just remember you're not supposed to touch 'em. Add the crumbled bacon, the beans, 1 1/2 tablespoons of garlic powder, one tablespoon of onion powder, one teaspoon pepper and two tablespoons of dried parsley. Add water to what ever broth you have to equal six cups of liquid total. I happened to have about three cups handy in the fridge. Remove the bacon, crumble it and set it aside.ĭrain all but a smidge of the drippings, then saute about half a chopped onion and two cups of ham just until the onion is tender. Good cast iron needs to develop over time to become non-stick.

This helps with the seasoning of the cast iron. Dad loved The Frugal Gourmet.Ĭook six slices of bacon right in the bean pot. I chose those 'cause they were on sale and this recipe is all about being frugal.

I started out with one pound of a great northern and pinto bean mix. I started doing a little ham-n-bean research and finally put together a recipe I figured would be a good place to begin replicating Dad's beans. Dad took his bean recipe with him when he passed away, but I can remember the flavor well. I brought it home, cleaned it up, seasoned it and set off to make some real beans since I just happened to have a bunch of leftover ham. I remembered Dad always made his beans in a pot just like this and nobody made beans as well as Dad. Then I ran across a bona- fide cast iron bean pot in an antique store. I thought to myself, AHA! He's been here long enough now to develop a taste for real beans. He ate them, and genuinely seemed to enjoy them. Then the other day, at the blacksmith association meeting, they were serving ham-n-beans. Ever since, I've left ham-n-beans off the menu even though I craved them so. As we sat at the dinner table that night he politely didn't make a single negative comment, he simply asked 'Dear, how often will we be eating this dish?' I'm guessing he was praying the answer wouldn't be once a week. I mean that ham had no flavor to it whatsoever. Anyway, sadly, I made the most bland tasting beans you can imagine. You know the stuff here in the Midwest we start a recipe with to take to picnics and potlucks? Very strange. The man ate baked beans out of the can for breakfast with ham for crying out loud.

Seeing how The Engineer was one of those crazy canucks, he'd never heard of such a dish. Way back in the old days, soon after I married The Engineer, I had an occasion to make ham-n-beans.

My little blacksmith shop recipes