Bean Day Success

Bean Day 2009 Was A Success!

We had between 70 and 100 people at Bean Day, and we raised over $400 for the Second Harvest Food Bank! We'll be presenting the check to the Food Bank shortly.

We had 21 dishes entered in our cooking contest and awarded some great prizes for some truly wonderful entries. Best of Show was Vonnie Lorah's Bean Pie. Father Andrew and I were the "food judges", and we enjoyed tasting and evaluating all of the dishes.

The buffet was great, and everyone had their fill of hot dogs and Greek sauce. We even took the extra desserts and cowboy beans to the City Mission.

The house band (Ryan Maloney, Pat Daugherty and Mike Duda) filled the room with excellent grooves, reminiscent of the 60's sessions at the Fillmore.

Thanks to everyone for coming, and for your support. Special thanks to the young ladies who manned the ticket booth and helped the kids.

Bean Day is Upon Us!

It's Here! Saturday at 5PM begins the most bean-oriented event in recent Erie History!

Bring a dish, bring nonperishable food, bring your money, bring a bottle if you want. A Good Time Will Be Had By All!

Featured during the hot food portion of the nonstop feeding will be Nan's Cowboy Beans. We have cooked these at many large events and they are always a crowd pleaser.

Note that this recipe was scaled up 10x for this event.










COWBOY BEANS

• ½ lb sliced bacon , diced
• ½ lb ground beef
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 can (28 oz) pork & beans
• 1 can (17 oz) lima or Great Norther beans, rinsed & drained
  
• 1 can (15 to 16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• ½ cup barbecue sauce
• ½ cup ketchup
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon chili powder

In a large skillet, cook bacon, beef and onion until meat is browned and onion is tender; drain. Treansfer to a greased 2 ½ qt. baking dish; add all of the beans and mix well. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; stir into beef and bean mixture. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Uncover; bake 15 minutes longer. Yield: 12 servings

Multiply by 10x to serve an army!

Feeling Bottled Up?

There's a down time in late winter. Starting just after the Super Bowl until it gets warm enough to venture outside without fur on...usually in April sometime. People get blue...they feel cooped up. Some call it Seasonal Affective Disorder. I think it's just because people aren't getting enough fiber in their diets. Beans can fix that!

That's why Bean Day was created. A reason for a party in February. A motivation to get creative in the kitchen, learn a little about the lowly bean, and have some fun. Plus for some people, the fun lasts for days!

So if you're feeling bottled up and need some release, come to Bean Day on Saturday February 7th.

If you cook a mean bean, you may even walk away with one of these fabulous prizes!

A Different Kind of Birthday Cake

My daughter celebrates her 17th birthday this week. We had our traditional pizza dinner at my in-laws this evening. Jenny requested fruit tarts for her birthday treat. My wife made two types: one with lemon curd and cream cheese, and the other with a chocolate mousse. Topped with fresh fruit, these mini-desserts were a real hit.

On the side were chocolate covered strawberries, and my new favorite, chocolate covered raspberries. I'm giving this one a "slight" bean credit owing to the chocolate.

Shot under only candle-light, this is a warm and cozy dessert.

You too can have warm and cozy desserts, along with lots of other great foods, if you come to BEAN DAY!

See you soon!

Bean Day - What To Cook?

I know that you are just achin' to fix up a mess of beans. But which way? Do you go old school and bake them? New school and incorporate them into a "bobby flay" style Iron Chef creation with a pomegranate sorbet, sorrel garnish and lamb lips on the side? How do you choose? What will you do?

Well, there are some great internet resources for bean recipes, and some decent books. My first suggestion is to try the Bean Bible. This site has lots of good recipes. You can also pour through your cookbook collection of bean books. What, you don't have a bean book? My ragged and dog-eared copy of "The Little Mountain Bean Bible Cookbook: Over 1000 Bean Recipes" is sitting beside me just now. I think you need some inspiration. Let me peruse the many bean creations hidden within this gassy tome.

I shall borrow a vehicle from Forrest Gump and list the many ways you can prepare beans:

Bean Soup
Baked Beans
Bean and Bacon Salad
Green Beans Viniagrette
Green Beans Perk-Up (huh?)
Bean Sprout Casserole
Sprouted Beans in Red Wine (really!)
Black Bean Turkey Chili
Breaded Green Beans
Bean Pudding (uhh...)
Quarry Quick Bean Pie
Drop Biscuit Beans
Three Day Bean Bake
Cajun Beans with Rice (now ah say son...)
Blackeye Beans
Beans 'N Friends
Italian Pizza Beans
Beans, Eggs and Cheese Trio
Bean-Tuna Nut Plate (next!)
Jellied Beans and Vegetable Loaf (uber-next!)
Beans and Brazil Nut Loaf
Criterion Red Bean Soup
Pinto Bean Pie
Bean Sandwiches
Bean Souffle

ahh...there are many more, but I tire of this quickly.

So gentlemen - no need to start your engines. Them beans'll do that for you on the 7th! Bring friends! Support the Food Bank!

Food Photography

Here is a shot as I am practicing my food photography for the cooking contest. Winning recipes will be featured on the blog, with recipes and food photos.

This one didn't have any beans, except for the vanilla in the frosting.

If you are planning to come to Bean Day and bring a dish for the contest, please bring the recipe so we can share!

See you soon,

John Huegel - Bean Day Guy

Bean Day In Erie: Stockin' Up

Today we went shopping to prepare for Bean Day. Of course there was the boring stuff: plates, napkins, table covers, plasticware and cups.

But, then I got to buy BEANS! Lots of BEANS. The picture doesn't even begin to describe the quantity and variety of beany goodness I put into our cart. Canned, dry, processed, pickled, you name it, we bought it.

Our bean dish contribution will be "Cowboy Beans" which is a great barbecue beans entree/side with meat that is a hit everywhere we take it. We have learned how to grow the recipe so that it will feed a hundred or so. It's a lot of fun to make: you open up a bunch of number 10 cans and other large bean containers, add a bunch of beef and other seasonings and let the pot cook for a while.

There's a lot of good in a bean. And we intend to bring and host a lot of bean on February 7th. Please try to join us to have fun and raise funds for the Second Harvest Food Bank!