This blog is about all meals cooked in kitchens.  It doesn’t have to be fancy.  Today’s entry comes from my husband, Lane, who is definitely not fancy.  He grew up on Pork and Bean Sandwiches.  He believes his mother got the idea from Lena Belle, Zena Belle or one of those Belles from Plymouth, NC.  They were either aunts, cousins or someone who raised a family member.  I can’t keep track.

He remembers these open-faced sandwiches with the fondest memories.  Looking back, he believes meals such as these were inexpensive ways to fill up growing boys with very little money….especially when mom was tired.  Lane and I prepared these as well when our children were coming up.

Lane grew up in Portsmouth, VA .  His grandmother owned some land and his dad built a house on it with his own two hands.  It was a small house with heat only in the kitchen.  He had to share a bed with his brother, Neal in the attic.   He remembers that Neal always peed the bed and got in trouble every night.  One time Lane peed the bed by accident and blamed it on Neal.  He snickers when telling this story. Neal or his momma never were the wiser.

Lane learned to cook when he went away to the Peace Corps in the early 70s.  Once he arrived in the African bush and could recognize food, survival created the cook.   He mainly prepared stewed chicken and stewed goat and some vegetables no one’s ever heard of.  He remembers once cutting the head off a chicken and it running into the jungle never to be seen again.  Sadly, he had to go buy another.

He also did a great deal of cooking while a graduate student at the University of Rochester after his Peace Corps stint.  While living in the Chili district, he and three other students took turns cooking and cleaning.  One student couldn’t cook, so Lane traded his cleaning gig for that guy’s cooking spot.  He cooked half the time for these roommates and enjoyed it thoroughly.  He brags about cooking the cheapest meals possible.  He made $2700/year at the time.  They would scrounge up enough money for some decent wine and invite professors over, would sit on the floor and discuss relativity, mathematics and such.  It was a wonderful time.

Lane is not the most hygienic cook I’ve ever seen.  This is why he is not allowed to cook for me on any regular basis.  He tends not to care what he touches after raw meat and will always taste the food with the same fork or spoon over and over again.  Not to mention he licks his fingers while preparing the meal.  I don’t even want to think about what happens if he was to use the bathroom.  I usually feel like I have to disinfect the entire kitchen once he’s been there.   However, the meals are usually tasty, if I can drink enough wine to block out the thought of the preparation.

Lane’s Pork & Bean Sandwiches 

Open a pound of bacon and throw it into a large skillet.  Cook over medium high heat until bacon is almost done.  Separate while cooking.*

Sprinkle some sugar on the bacon during the cooking process.  (Lane says no one should cook bacon without putting sugar on it.  This is a southern thing.  Sugar goes in everything.)

Put a 28 oz can of pork and beans in a pot and heat them through.

Cover toast slices with drained pork and  beans.  You can spoon some bacon fat over the beans if your doctor says it’s okay.

*Note:   When I prepare this, I use the packaged, already cooked bacon.  I put two slices on each sandwich.  This  reduces time, the mess of frying the bacon, and may prolong your life.