The Beans Are Boss, Beautiful San Fran & A Great Craft Find!

Everyone thinks their Momma makes the best "something."  Well, my Momma makes the best baked beans!  Seriously--smokey, sweet, tangy, I can't stay away...beans. 


When my sister got married, she made these beans for her first family potluck with her new in laws.  Seven years later, my sister is still asked to bring these beans to each family gathering. 
I wasn't able to photograph a play-by-play with this recipe, but it's fairly easy, so you shouldn't have any trouble. 

Joy's Four Bean Casserole
8 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
3 med onions, chopped and fried in the bacon grease until tender
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. dried Mustard powder
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup Ketchup
15oz can Kidney beans, drained
15oz can Large Butter Beans, drained
16oz can Lima Beans, drained (trust me on this, they taste wonderful in this casserole!)
30oz can Pork & Beans, do not drain

Fry bacon until crisp. Remove from pan, cool and crumble.  Cook onions in bacon grease until tender.

Combine salt, dry mustard, vinegar, brown sugar and ketchup in a saucepan.  Heat until bubbly. 

Gently mix all ingredients (except 1/4 of bacon crumbles) and pour into a large casserole dish.  Top with reserved bacon crumbles.

Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered  for 1 1/2 hour. 
Serves 10-12


Mike flew to San Fransisco last week on business.  Photography is his hobby, so he took our camera with him to snap some pictures in his free time at night.  For an investment banker with self taught photography skills, I think he did pretty good!  I thought I'd share a few of his photos on the blog today.  San Fran is always a great place to visit, but it's especially pretty this time of year.

1. Bay Bridge at dusk 
2. City view from new pier adjacent to Ferry Building 
3. Port of San Francisco (Ferry Building - Mike's Company HQ) 
4. Embarcadero street view of Ferry Building

The recent craft find that has me tickled is this Tinsel glitter by Martha Stewart.

I had no idea glitter like this existed.  The glitter is literally tiny flecks of tinsel and when you glue it to a decoration, it gives a dazzling three dimensional sparkle!

I love my star tree-topper but the vintage silver glass glitter had tarnished over the years.  The star had finally turned completely black when we unpacked it this year.

Without a method to clean it, I spent a week pouting over my beloved star and then moved on to fervently searching websites and stores for a replacement--to no avail.  Frustrated, I took my black star out in the back yard with a butter knife and scrapped off all of the old glitter.  (When I get a bug in my bonnet about something, there's no peace until I fix it).  Then Miss Elyse and I battled bumper-to-bumper shopping carts at Michaels to find some new silver glitter.  Since silver glitter was sold out, Elyse picked up a bottle of silver/aqua mix tinsel glitter and asked, "what about this, Mom?"  At first, I told her to put it back, and that it wasn't glitter.  But she persisted.  I finally took a good look at what my sweet little girl was trying to show me and agreed to give it a try.  I cannot get over how amazing the star turned out!  It's simply brilliant and Elyse is so proud.
*I wish my photography skills were better, these pictures don't do our newly glittered star justice.


Hope everyone is surviving the holiday bustle!
My Best,
The Lemonista