Baked Beans and Cole Slaw

These are two summer recipes to make over and over again.

For the cole slaw, pour 3/4 C. of buttermilk in a bowl with 1/2 C. sugar, 3/4 C. mayonnaise, 2T. canola oil, 2T. apple cider vinegar, 2  1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1 T. toasted sesame oil (do not skip this!), 1 tsp. celery salt, 1 tsp. fresh black pepper, 1 T. celery seeds and 1 T. fresh lemon juice.  Whisk this all together.

I used my food processor to grate my cabbage.  You could use a hand grater to do this.  Grate 1 medium onion and grate 2 carrots.

Mix it all together and refrigerate it.  This is some fabulously flavorful slaw.

For the beans, start by partially cooking a package of thin sliced bacon.  It will cook more in the oven so it does not have to be totally cooked.

Drain it on paper towels.

Dice 1 medium onion and 1 green pepper.

Saute' the vegetables in the remaining bacon grease.

Sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

Add 1 C. of BBQ sauce.  I used homemade but you can use whatever you like.  Add 1/2 C. brown sugar, 1/3 C. apple cider vinegar and 2 T. yellow mustard.

Add 1 large can of pork and beans, 1 small can of black beans and 2 cans of butter beans.  You can use any combination of beans that you like.

With your claw, add 1 T. of hot sauce.  What?  You don't have a claw?  Ha!  You don't know what you are missing. My favorite hot sauce is Gator Hammock.  It is packed with flavor.

Stir everything together and pour it into a pan.

Top with the bacon slices.  Bake at 325 degrees for 2 hours.