Right after I'd left the grocery store with stuff for our dinner, I got an invitation to a friend's house for a feast. Heck, we could put off our own feast to another day. "What can I bring?" I asked, and offered things like cranberry salad, Hasselback potato casserole, green beans with bacon. She asked for the green beans, so back I went to get more than I'd already bought.
Five pounds of green beans.
You ever wash and trim five pounds of green beans? It's definitely a labor of love. I bought them one day, trimmed and cut them the next, cooked them up -- after dreaming about them all night --with a pound of bacon chunks the morning of the party. (My darling, who loves to make up songs, is in the process of writing a ditty about how they interfered, days in a row, with his desired plans. The working title, and refrain, are "them darned beans". 😆)
You ever try to fit a pound of cut bacon into a tall stockpot, render it down until nearly crisp, then add almost 5 pounds of cut green beans into that pot? Of course it all fits, but stirring it is a real treat. I was using the biggest pot in the Princessmobile: the 12-quart stockpot we generally use for stews and chili. Eventually it all got done. I kept tasting and adjusting, wondering why it seemed so flat. "Needs salt," I finally decided, and I'm glad I did. It didn't need much, but the bacon hadn't done enough.
I transferred it into our Lodge Dutch Oven, which had been well-preheated, for transport to the party. It was an hour's drive from our camping spot, and I wanted it kept warm. The Dutch Oven, wrapped in two towels, held the heat well.
Sorry, but we were all too busy gabbing, eating, cleaning up, making music in the post-feast jam session to take any pictures. There were turkey, ham, gravy, 2 types of potatoes, salads galore, relish tray, cocktail shrimp, bread, beans, yams, and of course desserts. The only photo I have is from a piece of cornbread brought by another guest.
I've asked to see whether she'll share the recipe. It's her copycat version of a cornbread from one of her favorite restaurants. Good stuff!
