Snow and Calico Bean Soup

Snow. Today. And thus commences the seven month Milwaukee sentence. (That's right, here the first snow is often in October and the last in April! *sigh*)

To make me feel better, here's a hearty recipe to warm you...

I'm not that big into chili - or maybe I'm just really picky since I've had some fabulous chilies before - but if I want a hearty bean soup/stew, this is where it's at!

Calico Bean Soup
1 28oz. can pork & beans
5 16oz. cans your choice of other beans (ie. great northern/white, kidney, chick pea, garbonzo, black, pinto, etc.)
1 green pepper, chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 1/2 lbs. hamburger
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 2 tsp. garlic powder)
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp oregano
3/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vinegar
1/2 c. ketchup
1/2 c. brown sugar
6 slices bacon

Cook and crumble bacon, set aside. Brown hamburger in the bacon pan. In separate bowl, make a sauce of the garlic, spices, vinegar, ketchup and brown sugar. Mix all ingredients in large casserole and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

For a soup don't drain the beans, for a casserole drain them.

Personally, I bake it for the casserole version and let it just simmer on the stove for the soup version (I'm too scared to pull a full soupy dish out of the oven). I prefer the soup version.

The great thing about the recipe is it's very forgiving. You don't have to be finicky with the measuring, it's a great one to just throw together. Plus you can add and subtract as you see fit. I think I usually add more of the seasoning to it (but I also usually go for for a full 2 lbs of hamburger and lots more bacon...)

Enjoy!