July 4, 2022 Independence Day Dinner when not on a ship

[rkacruiser]

My menu for my dinner is a picnic-style dinner.  Baked Beans with Wieners, Red Skin Potato Salad, Lime Jello with Sliced Pears, and Peach Ice Cream.

 

My Baked Beans have been prepared using my special recipe of "a little of this and a lot of that".  (Light Brown Sugar, Onions, Parsley Flakes, Ketchup, Accent, and Black Pepper.  I put the ingredients together and refrigerate the mixture for several hours.  I'll put this concoction in the oven and let it cook for 75-90 minutes at 350 degrees.  Sometimes, I get a bit of "too much of that" and "not enough of this", but, not often.  If that happens, I can too some "tweaking" when it's time for leftovers.  

 

What's your menu for Independence Day this year?  

[CntPAcruiser]

That sounds like a good menu for the fourth, especially the jello "salad" as a classic American accompaniment. We did not go traditional this year for our dinner for four, opting for veggies with dip and hummus and watermelon slices with chili-lime salt as appetizers along with mango margaritas, and then for dinner we had broccoli salad, rice pilaf, and Moroccan-style apricot chicken. Dessert was definitely in keeping with the fourth, though: blueberry buckle, with fresh blueberries from our own bushes, and whipped cream.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

We always had bbq chicken on the Webber with my family’s special bbq sauce..  Potato salad and Cole slaw were the accompaniments with blueberry pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert.  Don’t forget the corn on the cob, cold beer and iced tea.

 

RK, try placing a quartered onion in your bean pot when baking your beans.  
 

This year I made a big pot of my world famous chili.  

Edited July 5, 2022 by CGTNORMANDIE

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

We always had bbq chicken on the Webber with my family’s special bbq sauce..  Potato salad and Cole slaw were the accompaniments with blueberry pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert.  Don’t forget the corn on the cob, cold beer and iced tea.

 

RK, try placing a quartered onion in your bean pot when baking your beans.  
 

This year I made a big pot of my world famous chili.  

 

Blueberry Pie!  Yes!  

 

If I put a quartered onion on the beans, I ought not to add the minced onions when I make my mixture of ingredients, I suppose.  

 

Corn on the Cob:  Ohio's sweet corn season is coming and I am looking forward to it.  

[CGTNORMANDIE]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Blueberry Pie!  Yes!  

 

If I put a quartered onion on the beans, I ought not to add the minced onions when I make my mixture of ingredients, I suppose.  

 

Corn on the Cob:  Ohio's sweet corn season is coming and I am looking forward to it.  

Right RK,  the quartered onion will give a wonderful flavor and the pieces are very tasty.  Your recipe is not too far off from the recipe at the famous Maine Diner in Wells, Maine.

 

August is coming and with it comes the sweet butter and sugar corn.  We get a half dozen ears at a time and shave the cobs then cook the corn with salt and butter in the microwave.  Then we bag it and freeze it for the rest of the year…fantastic.  
 

Now you’ve got me dreaming of blueberry pie!

Edited July 6, 2022 by CGTNORMANDIE

[rkacruiser]

17 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

August is coming and with it comes the sweet butter and sugar corn.  We get a half dozen ears at a time and shave the cobs then cook the corn with salt and butter in the microwave.  Then we bag it and freeze it for the rest of the year…fantastic.  

 

This sounds good.  What do you use to shave the cobs?  My Mother made fresh creamed corn and the shaving of the cobs always looked difficult and messy to do.  

 

18 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Your recipe is not too far off from the recipe at the famous Maine Diner in Wells, Maine.

 

 

I needed to google Maine Diner.  Impressed with what I read and their menus were most appealing.  

 

Regarding my current "edition" of my Baked Beans:  I got it right!  Leftover #2 was as good as, if not better, than initially.  There will be at least Leftover #3, and I expect, #4 as well.  

 

 

 

[CGTNORMANDIE]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

This sounds good.  What do you use to shave the cobs?  My Mother made fresh creamed corn and the shaving of the cobs always looked difficult and messy to do.  

 

 

I needed to google Maine Diner.  Impressed with what I read and their menus were most appealing.  

 

Regarding my current "edition" of my Baked Beans:  I got it right!  Leftover #2 was as good as, if not better, than initially.  There will be at least Leftover #3, and I expect, #4 as well.  

 

 

 

Shaving the cobs:  Take a big wide bowl, not too deep, then take a smaller bowl turn it upside down and place it in the center of the larger bowl.  Cut the corn cob at its base to give it a flat surface and then stand it up on the smaller bowl.  Hold the cob with one hand and take a sharp knife and go down each side until the cob is clean.  The big bowl will catch all the shavings and keep the mess to a minimum.

The Maine Diner is world famous…just good old Yankee cooking.  The blueberry pie is made with wild Maine blueberries.  Their lobster pie is legendary as is their chowders and fish cakes and beans.  A waitress there gave me the recipe for their baked beans and it is very similar to yours!
 

Baked beans ALWAYS taste better the second day…and the third…and the…

Edited July 6, 2022 by CGTNORMANDIE

[rkacruiser]

21 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

 A waitress there gave me the recipe for their baked beans and it is very similar to yours!
 

Baked beans ALWAYS taste better the second day…and the third…and the…

 

I am pleased to know that my recipe is very similar to the Maine Diner's.  

 

The second and subsequent days of a homemade food usually tastes better than its original.  In the Winter, I make a large pot of Beef Vegetable Soup that seems to keep improving from serving to serving until the pot is empty.  An exception to this is when I make a pot of Beef/Noodles or Chicken/Noodles.  Upon sitting in my refrigerator, the Noodles seem to absorb moisture that dilutes the taste if the broth.  I use the appropriate Bouillon Cubes and additional water to try to restore the original flavor, but, it never seems to be quite the same.  Maybe adding Chicken or Beef Broth would help?  

[CGTNORMANDIE]

20 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I am pleased to know that my recipe is very similar to the Maine Diner's.  

 

The second and subsequent days of a homemade food usually tastes better than its original.  In the Winter, I make a large pot of Beef Vegetable Soup that seems to keep improving from serving to serving until the pot is empty.  An exception to this is when I make a pot of Beef/Noodles or Chicken/Noodles.  Upon sitting in my refrigerator, the Noodles seem to absorb moisture that dilutes the taste if the broth.  I use the appropriate Bouillon Cubes and additional water to try to restore the original flavor, but, it never seems to be quite the same.  Maybe adding Chicken or Beef Broth would help?  

Try making the broth then prepare each serving with fresh noodles.

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Try making the broth then prepare each serving with fresh noodles.

 

Good idea!  I had not thought of that.