The yin-yang of trying to achieve excellence with franks and beans, was the secret of not only a great supper, but of a marriage as well.
By Margaret King|Jan 14 2022|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine Keenan
This ode to franks and beans is an excerpt from “Beans and Harmony,” Yankee Magazine, February 1995.Franks and Beans | A Saturday Night Tradition Photo Credit : Aimee Tucker
Being married to a Yankee meant we had franks and beans every Saturday night for years. Our eldest daughter hated beans, but her father insisted she eat every bean on her plate. I’d like to say that when she grew up she learned to like baked beans, but that would be a fairy story.
My husband longed for the flavor of true bean-hole beans. Those can sometimes be found at bean suppers, where deep pits are dug and great fires burn all day to create glowing hot coals. The cook then lowers the beans into the holes in vast black pots and covers them completely with ashes and earth, letting them bake slowly for two whole days. They are at last unearthed, lifted out, and a great feast is had by all. I, with my little saucepan and stirring spoon, had a hard time reproducing that flavor.
My most common mistake was to heat the beans too fast. I always turned the burner on high. That was heresy to the baking of beans. All too often the bean critic would shout from the living room, “Don’t ruin the beans! Cook them slowly!”
Eventually I learned to simulate a bean-hole supper by heating the brown, juicy morsels on the lowest setting for a half an hour and not interfering with them in any way. I kept myself busy with the rest of the supper — a very active exercise. I’d rush to the blender to whip up milk shakes, rush to butter the buns, check the boiling franks, make sure the beans were heating slowly, pour out the chips. It was a challenge to complete everything at once (the mark of a great chef).
I learned that the tension between fast and slow, the yin-yang of trying to achieve excellence with franks and beans, was the secret of not only a great supper, but of a marriage as well.
Did you grow up eating franks and beans on Saturday night?
I love this article! My family were (are) swamp Yankees from way back. We always had baked beans , franks and brown bread (drenched in butter), Saturday nights. With the left over beans we loved to make bean sandwiches, recipie: bread, mayonnaise and as many beans as you could squeeze between the bread. Thanks for the memories.
I grew up in Ct. My Dad was a born and raised Vermonter. As children we had the tradional Frank’s and beans every Saturday night. Brown bread was also on the table. And, while we watched Gunsmoke, we enjoyed popcorn made in our electric popper. Great memories that last forever
Franks and beans were our traditional dinner on Saturday night (some times with brown bread also). B&M beans were our family favorite. When we moved to NJ and could not find the B&M beans here in the 60’s, my parents would bring us a case of them when they came to visit!
Some Saturday night’s I’m the only one eating beans & hot dogs. The family can’t understand why I enjoy this meal, Baby, there SO GOOOD ! Yum, Yum, Yum. Come Sunday morning, any left over beans get put on the plate & accompany my 2 over easy, 3 slices of Spam & golden toast. Eat well this weekend & enjoy !!!!
I grew up in Maine and my parents always served beans and franks on Saturday nite. Wednesdays were spaghetti, Fridays fish (we weren’t Catholic but heh, we showed our support), Sundays were pot roast. Never liked beans and franks. The baked beans were fine along with the brown bread but the boiled franks were always floppy and rubbery and Dad wouldn’t allow hot dog buns at the supper table. Buns were for picnics. Piccalilli in the beans helped. As a teenager, I would get invites to friends on Saturday for supper that didn’t do beans and franks. Ahhh, hamburgers in a bun!
I am an original Mainer. In the winter someone or someplace had a baked bean supper. They were the best. Women would try to outdo each other with their baked beans, or rolls or potato salad or coleslaw or pies. They usually served cold cuts like olive loaf or pimento loaf with the beans. That brings back fond memories. Living out in the Midwest now, the only way I can have baked beans is by buying a jar of B & M beans..they are the closest to home made.
We always had franks and beans on Saturday but also with the canned brown bread. Wednesday pasta and meatballs! Friday’s always fish ! Sundays special dinner !
Growing up we always had beans and franks on Saturday nights. My dad liked just the beans and franks, maybe with some cole slaw. As my sister and I got older, we would sometimes get my mom to toast hot dog buns as we liked those. Living in New England was great since we could get slab cut hot dogs buns you could toast on both sides and could get piccalilli relish. I live in Colorado now and those aren’t available here. Fridays we always had fish or cheese pizza (so we were still meatless).
I HAVE TO AGREE WITH HOWARD. NOT AM I THE ONLY ONE IN THE HOUSE THAT EATS THE DOGS AND BEANS (AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN AS WHISTLE BERRIES AND TUBE STEAK) BUT ALL I HAVE TO DO IS OPEN A CAN OF SPAM, FRY A COUPLE OF EGGS AND THE KITCHEN CLEARS OUT!
We didn’t have them necessarily on Saturday nights. The meal could happen anytime. Always with brown bread from the can, steamed with butter. B & M was the name of the bean game and I don’t even remember what kind of dogs we had. I’ve always loved the brown bread and have a can of it still here in my E. Texas pantry. Cole slaw would have been a good add but my mother often supplied her version of a salad which was one lettuce leaf with a slice of tomato on it and sugar atop that. How’s that for a healthy salad? She and my dad each lived to be 94 with that kind of healthy eating. Must’ve been the beans…
Oh, how I remember the beans baking in the oven (heated by the oil stove) all day on Saturday and savoring them with the hot dogs and home made brown bread and home canned bread & butter pickles every Saturday night. MMMMM…!!
North of Boston it was Maple Leaf Franks and Friendly’s Baked Beans. And it was every Sunday night! Hot summer nights, cold snowy nights. You could depend on it!
We were south of Boston and our brands were the same; I thinnk you mean Friend’s beans,who were B&M’ s competition and I believe were eventually aquired by them. I remember Friend’s had several varieties with different colored labels. For hot dogs ,Maple Leaf ruled the roost,with Armour Star brand the also-ran. Ahhh,memories…….don’t forget,it’s bath night….wash behind your ears!
If you recall,the Friend’s beans came in 3 varieties..first, good old pea beans in the light blue can, kidney beans in the red can and yellow eyed in , of course,in the yellow can…
I had forgotten about Maple Leaf Franks, but yes, we ate them and the Friend’s baked beans. My grandmother baked her own beans from scratch and those were the best. We often had brown bread with the beans and franks, too. But always beans and franks on Saturday!
my mother was a transplant from Minnesota to Boston when a newlywed. so she adopted the tradition, and we always had homemade baked beans and home baked brown bread on Saturdays. Delicious and perfect for a winter meal.
While growing up it was beans, franks & usually brown bread every Saturday night. My mother made her own beans. She would soak the beans on Friday overnight then make her own concoction & cook it in the crockpot. We had to eat them, no choice. To this day I despise any kind of brown beans.
In the late late 30’s & early 40’s Baked Bean & B & M brown bread. I believe Jordan Franks. Jordan meat store ( Storer & Main St., next to Sam & Nicks fruit store ) Saco, Maine ) Most important my mother always steam the Franks-Bun. It was great. After us children took our weekly Saturday night bath.
My wife and I are both from Vermont. She bakes her own using yellow eye beans ( getting harder to find ) soaks them the night before and bakes them the next day.
Yes, love franks and beans & Saturday night supper. In Midwest Swedish Beans are soooo good. Like little morsels of candy, laced with cut hotdogs, topped with a squirt of yellow mustard. Left over bean sandwich with slice of onion, mustard and a little mayo. Always on Wonder Bread!
Tradition is great. Glad to hear others had same weekly food menu…beans, franks, brown bread (with raisins pleas), on Sat., Weds. spaghetti with Mom’s homemade [entirely not Italian] version of spaghetti sauce, Friday fish (still hat it) and Sunday big roast (beef, pork, chicken) dinner. I used to make my own baked beans – many hours in oven, made with molasses, not the pale kind with maple syrup, and with homemade green tomato piccalilli (?) that I made with an aunt. We still have B&M baked beans, franks, and B&M brownbread here in FL.
yes, many places in and near Sarasota sell New England style (top cut) hot dog rolls. If you are near Englewood or North Port Fl. go to Twin Lobsters. They always have them.
Always been a favourite and we could have that any night of the week… Now, after many years of cooking for a family, I especially enjoy a delicious and simple supper like franks and beans.
Grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts corner Mugford and Mechanic streets. Saturday afternoon mom would send me down to the Eco Store (across from the Old Town House) Gilbert Harrington , manager to purchase several pounds of Hot Dogs. Then after 6:00 up up Mechanic Street to Mrs. Hammond’s house on Mechanic Court (just down the hollow behind Gerry School) She baked beans and brown bread for the whole neighborhood on her old wood fired black stove. Carried a large aluminum pot with handle and cover. Mrs. Hammond would dish out the bake beans into my pail. Putting a large piece of fat pork, with a “command that this was for my father” the brown bread was wrapped and place on top of the beans and off I went back to the house. The franks were always boiled. brown bread smothered with butter and I like to add sugar on both the beans and brown bread. Boy oh boy what a great meal!
Loved this article and all the comments. Still cannot beat B & M beans. Ate cold baked bean sandwiches during the power outage from Hurricane Carol in 1954.
on Saturday night it was baked beans, steamed brown bread and steak…no hot dogs at my house..I loved eating at my friends house because they had HOT DOGS…her Father use to say “I’ll go to your house and eat steak”
Growing up in the 1950s in Rhode Island after — at that time — more than 300 years of family history in New England — of course we ate beans and franks and brown bread on Saturday night. When my father moved us to South Carolina in 1958 as he followed the textile industry south, we thought our Saturday tradition was over. Family saved us by sending us boxes of brown bread from Providence, my mother made a pot of beans every Saturday for years until B&M beans became available in South Carolina and we tolerated the wrong kind of hot dog rolls because New England hot dog rolls just weren’t available. We had only lived there a couple of months when we were invited to join another family for dinner on a Saturday evening. My six year old self was concerned because I had never had anything for Saturday night supper except franks, beans, and brown bread. Imagine my surprise when we sat down at the table and I found franks, beans, and brown bread. Turns out the other family had moved south from Massachusetts to follow the textile industry. I still have that old bean pot my mother used, but I haven’t made a pot of beans in many years. I have to admit both B&M and Bushes make very good beans and it is so much easier. We can get the proper rolls here in New Jersey, so that is good. I never converted my wife or daughter to brown bread, so I just have that by myself as a snack or toasted for breakfast like my grandparents used to do back in RI. The memories of a pot of beans cooked all day will have to do for now.
Not only did I grow up with baked beans & hot dogs on Saturday night, my grandmother would steam brown bread & bake beans to sell to regulars in the neighborhood. Can still see them stopping by for their “take out” 🙂
Reading these inputs makes me want to go home and make up a pot of beans. I grew up in Lisbon, Maine and it was tradition to have beans, franks and brown bread on Saturday night. My dad kept a crock full of his own salt pork in the garage and on Saturday morning would add the salt pork and his secret ingredients to the bean pot and cook them all day. My three sisters would have that scowl on their face while the three boys enjoyed the beans and homemade cornbread. Two of my sisters won’t eat beans to this day but I miss the taste of B&M beans. Will have to look for a good recipe and plan on cooking up some beans, substitute the franks with bratwurst and some brown bread. Served with German beer of course.
I haven’t heard much discussion about the hot dogs, best and what brand. I knew a guy in Townshend VT that had a stand on the common and he sold ESSEM. He got the advice from many customers what’s the best dog. They were good.
Spot on! I grew up in Athletics, Massachusetts, with family all over New England—Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, etc. Yes, Saturday dinner was always beans, Franks, and brown bread. (I’m 82 and remember it all, like it was last Saturday.)
We had our homemade Boston Baked Beans & Maple Leaf hot dogs with homemade fried bread dough dipped in warm maple syrup. Leftovers were for breakfast on Sunday
Lol, even though we, posters here, don’t know each other, we have so much in common. Baked beans for Saturday evening dinner, though sometimes my mom would serve baked beans for Sunday dinner. The baked beans on Saturday were usually the wonderful home baked ones. My mom used her aunts recipe, which everyone, who tasted these beans, seemed to love and would ask for the recipe. I’ve no idea what made them so special. With both the home baked and the canned beans my mom would grease the pan with a bit of salt pork, which no one ate, it was just there for flavor. If she didn’t have any, she would use a skimpy slice of bacon and if there were only two slices of bacon left in the package, she might use both, depending on her mood was thrifty or not. It was usually thrifty. My mom preferred to use navy beans, which is what the original recipe called for, but at some point her aunt decided to bake her beans using kidney beans and suggested everyone try using those instead, which everyone did. Mom still preferred navy beans, but would use red kidney beans on occasion depending on which she preferred that day.
Now we lived next door to family, aunts/uncles and grandparents, so being the eldest grandchild, the other being much young; I was given the job of going house to house to collect everyone’s pan and bring them back their share of Saturday night’s beans, from the home of whichever family member had baked that Saturday night’s beans. Mostly the baked beans were served with hot dogs, with yellow mustard and sweet relish. Later some tried and preferred the brown mustard and Howard red relish on their hot dogs, not me. I did however, like when my grandmother served her beans with pork chops and occasionally would ask me to stay for dinner with her and grandpa. Baked beans and pork chops seemed extra special.
New England style hot dog rolls, is there any other perfect roll to serve a hot dog in? No. Those, other style of hot dog rolls are hot dog buns. I never understood why anyone likes them, they have way too much too crust all around them. You can’t even toast or grill the sides to make them crisp and warm before placing the hot dog in them. You can try to toast or grill the inside which causes those other style buns to fall apart. Additionally, the NE style rolls are even best toasted or grilled with lobster salad. I’d love to know the history of the difference between the New England style hot dog rolls and the non-NE buns.
After our Saturday night of home baked beans or a Sunday night dinner of B&M canned beans, my mom would get out a package of gingerbread mix and bake a pan of gingerbread cake. If we were especially lucky, she would have a can of whipped cream to top each serving. This again depended upon Mom’s mood, thrifty or extravagent. A can of cream was expensive and mom preferred whip cream made from scratch, but not enough to make it for gingerbread topping. A few years later, we sometimes had cool whip on the gingerbread cake.
How times change. Probably in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s, a family member started adding crushed pineapple to the bottom of the bean pot. Then another added a chopped up ham slice with the pineapple and someone else added grilled green peppers and all this went into a crockpot to bring to parties. Aah, times gone by. Over the years, my dh finally learned to like baked beans, follwing our son’s lead, as our son loves baked beans. Currently, we prefer Bush’s bourbon grilling beans, but some weekend, I really should dig out the old family recipe and try making my great aunts all day baked beans which I might serve with pork chops like my grandma would do.
A bit of history as I seem someone else had a neighbor who baked beans and sold them on Saturday evenings. My dad’s great aunts used to tell me how their grandmother, who ran a boarding house, would cook large pots of beans and sell them to the folks who worked in the local shoe factories, to purchase an inexpensive hot meal to bring home to the family or take to work. On the other side of my dad’s family, his aunt told me her family would make up sandwiches to sell at the local factory, that her dad would take with him to sell to anyone who needed a meal. I think she said her dad was a factory foreman and this served two purposes, a wee bit more cash for his family and workers who didn’t bring a meal, could purchase an inexpensive sandwich and not be hungry on the job.
So for the “modern” cook (i.e., needing shortcuts), which beans should be used, how are they heated (in a saucepan or in the oven??). Pic looks like franks (hot dogs) are sliced and cooked in the beans. Good or bad? Pic also shows that the bread (which I see in cans in my grocery stores in Cleveland, Ohio) is toasted. By the way, I am a New Englander through my mom. She was born near Woodland, Maine in August, 1917. Her family moved to Cleveland a few years later. I am happy to say she is still a tough New England lady … she turned 100 years old last August and is going on 101 this year, still living in her own home (we all live nearby and help her out). When people in Cleveland marvel at her age, I always say it’s because she was born in Maine!!!
What fun to read everyone’s comments! Growing up in New England we all have so much in common. Thanks to Yankee doll Magazine we can share our memories. I got to wondering about weekly food traditions. Do people still have them? Saturday night was always beans and franks night for supper. Sunday was always the day for a roast of some kind served midday. And I’m just remembering codfish cakes that we ate on fridays. Didn’t those go with beans too?
Some folks asked about bean pots. You can get them from Pot Shop of Boston. They make several sizes. My dad had a West bend electric pot that made delicious beans every Saturday. Like one reader mentioned, family members living nearby received a container filled with beans as soon as they were cooked. My dad alternated between hot dogs and “scotch ham” for the meat, but always brown bread in the can warmed in the oven slathered with butter! Was there a better supper?
Living in Tennessee but still a Cape Codder at heart, I still remember the Saturday night suppers with Friends beans and knockwurst. The beans were amazing and I was the first to stab a knockwurst and listen for the pop that they made. I have served this meal for over 30 years now to my kids. Great tradition to pass down!
Oh, yes, do I remember franks and beans night! I grew up in Northern California with a Souther Calif. beach girl for a mom and a dad who hailed from Brockton, Mass. Mom always served our franks and beans with warm brown bread and softened butter that melted so beautifully into all the little air holes on the bread slices. To my dad, franks and beans night meant bean sandwiches on white bread the next day. To my mom, it meant that the weekend was here — time for family fun! I miss them both every day.
I’m NOT a native-born New Englander – was born near Lake Ontario in upstate New York – but I believe I AM a New Englander by heart-and-soul. I feel such a connection to all things New England. All things old too, for that matter. Enjoy reading “Yankee” so much and especially this online version where readers can also post comments. Reading the comments of native New Englanders is so enjoyable – no matter what the topic. Thanks to everyone who takes the time and trouble to comment – you’re enriching my life and I’m sure many others!
Spent my summer’s in Maine with my grandparents who owned and operated a few cottages. My grandmother would bake and sell beans and brown bread every Saturday night. I have her recipes and a tin she steamed the bread in. Occasionally have them myself.
Out here in the Milwaukee area, I found B & M brown bread at a local Piggly Wiggly store. The manager decided not carry it anymore until several of us transplanted New Englanders complaigned…He brought it back….Some times I hunt thru the store to find it. It has been in the bread section, The baking section, the veggie section, until we convinced him to put it in the bean section…He now carries the B & M baked beans as well. Once a month I have a New England themed weekend for meals….Fri night, Fish and Chips and Clam Chowda, Saturday night Beans & Franks & Brown Bread, Sunday afternoon New England boiled dinner. Monday lunch, Cold Bean sandwiches Other themed weekends include Southern weekend, German weekend, Italian weekend…We are a retired Navy family and have been stationed in all four corners of the country…I just wish I could find New England style hot dog rolls out here.
I buy the New England style rolls from Famous Foods. I also buy the Gaspars Sausages because we didn’t have availability in some places I was assigned (retired Navy). Publix sells Gaspars products, but difficult to find New England style beans and buns. We usually had Hotdogs boiled with potatoes and onions. Had the baked beans on the side. Miss those days.
I enjoyed reading these comments so much. I’m not from New England but have a deep affinity for all things New England. I grew up in a tiny town in Eastern Long Island which has been described as more New England than NY. Both sides of my family went deep with baked beans and I’m not sure why since they were all generation after generation NYers. Baked beans were (and are) THE staple for every family gathering based on my great-aunts recipe (who still usually makes them). Especially Easter, they go SO well with ham. She never used a bean pot but always in a large casserole dish using B&M which were always the kind used and always the best. Her secret ingredient was Heinz chili sauce and also added brown sugar, mustard (powder is fine), a bit of minced onion. Cooked low and slow until the beans were thick. We’ve all been cooking them this way for many years and most people have never had them this way. We’ve been handing out the basic rules of the recipe for decades because people just love them. Every gathering it’s the 1 thing that goes. Most people are used to just having the liquidy version straight from the can. As far as Franks go, whenever we had BBQ’s and would grill hot dogs they were never, EVER served without baked beans. Usually for quick dinners we’d put the same ingredients in a stove pot and simmer them down instead of doing the hours long cooking which was more for special occasions. We’d usually put the beans on the hotdog and also have ruffled potato chips to scoop up beans like a dip. The best. The term “Franks ‘n’ Beans” in our house though, meant baked beans with sliced hot dogs mixed in while cooking. Just served in a bowl with a spoon. My Dad who was born in 1950 said they had a specific meal they’d have each day of the week and Franks & Beans were on Mondays I think, not Saturdays. My family can be traced back to the original settlers from the area I’m from so I wonder if that has anything to do with having baked beans be a deeply rooted staple in my family? Much like it’s a common theme through New England history as some of the earliest settlers from our country settled there. It obviously came over from England where baked beans were and still are a staple. Must be it! Never did have Brown Bread though which I guess never reached our area but wanting to try it.
If it was B&M brown bread, unfortunately because the factory was sold in Portland Maine and the recipe sold to another facility out of state, I do not think we will be seeing the brown bread any longer. I live in East Tennessee now and could find brown bread in Food City, but went last week, and it was no longer available.
Because our parents grew up in the depression where they had little choice on the food that was available. So it was eat something you don’t like or starve. Being the youngest my parents were more lax but my older sibling grew up having to eat the food that was cooked for them. They are all healthy adults with no psychological issues being made to eat what my mother cooked. No one is over weight and we all have a respect for adults and not being wasteful or raising spoiled children with an attitude of entitlement that I see so much in today’s youth. It wasn’t monstrous it was teaching values.
Growing up in the 50s there was one supper on the table. Take it or go hungry. I learned to like liver, asparagus, you name it! Sure you might not have enjoyed every meal, but we were happy there was a meal!
Totally agree with what everyone is saying about eating what is put in front of you. Its how I was raised, and how I raised my son. I have/had neither the time, money, nor patience to cater to picky tastebuds(within reason)and he is grateful I can provide a decent, nourishing dinner every night. And yeah, if he doesn’t like it…..there is always cereal in the cupboard.
Because in the 50s a meal was put on the table and you either ate it or you didn’t. There was no such thing as making a different meal for each person.
In reply to all of this, yes we had to eat all that was on our plates and as time went by I learned to enjoy a lot of different foods. I now try just about as many foods from different cultures. I told my children and grandchildren to at least try it once, if they don’t like it then pass on it.
In reply to all of this, yes we had to eat all that was on our plates and as time went by I learned to enjoy a lot of different foods. I now try just about as many foods from different cultures. I told my children and grandchildren to at least try it once, if they don’t like it then pass on it. And yes, Sat. night and Sunday meals were the best.
I agree, forcing someone to eat something they hate is monstrous. My children will eat whatever we serve without complaint. If there is something they haven’t tried, I ask only for one polite bite. That has morphed into a 9 and 11 year old with fantastic palates. They try everything and eat what they like from what is offered.
In our house we ate what was set before us . Both parents grew up in the depression years,Dad was a WWII veteran and both valued good food and nutrition. Like it or not
Making your own beans is not hard. I soak Jacob’s Cattle or Yellow Eyes overnight and give them about six hours in the slow cooker the next day. I start out with Marjorie Standish’s old-time recipe that is not too sweet and use extra dry mustard and some allspice and ginger. Kirschner’s hot dogs aren’t as good as they used to be when they were made in Augusta, Maine., but they are still better than most. My 86 year-old mother makes a relish from peppers and onions that is an ideal compliment.
I just finished reading through all the comments and was tempted to respond to many of them. However,two things that come to mind: THe first is that I grew up in a small town, and whenever there was a bake sale, Mrs. M always contributed homemade baked beans for sale. For health reasons that is not allowed today. The second thing is that not so very long ago I taught in a small school where the kitchen was in the basement right below my room with an open stairwell leading to my coat closet. All the food was home cooked. When baked beans were on the menu they were always started the day before, (as was the turkey when it was to be served) , and we were tantallized by the aroma for a day before they were served! Too bad that can’t be done today.
How wonderful to run across this. I’m originally from New England relocating to the South 30+ years ago. I had this overwhelming craving for Boston brown bread. I made some yesterday and OMG, how I’ve missed it. So, that led me to craving Boston baked beans which I’m cooking as I write. Yes, that was our traditional Saturday night dinner. Beans, franks and brown bread. Yesterday while making the brown bread, my house smelled like childhood memories. I have enjoyed reading all the comments.
We grew up in Ct. But my father was from Maine. Our Saturday our hotdogs and beans had to have molasses on the side. Occasionally brown bread.on Saturday night..My father was from Maine. He moved to Ct where we were raised.
My dad was from Maine too.Saturday nights were not dogs beans and molasses(all Maine houses keep molasses) If we are lucky we had brown bread, loved it.
My mom (small town N H) was renowned for her baked beans and made them for nearly every town “supper” in the 50s & 60s. Growing up we had them freshly baked every Saturday night (with hotdogs and brown bread) and leftover every Thursday (with bacon and liver). Ugh! I didn’t learn to enjoy baked beans until I was well into my 40s. Never once did I make or serve baked beans to my kids. Imagine… New Englanders who never tasted a baked bean as a child.
But *why* franks and beans every Saturday night? There was a reason, at least this is what my mother taught us; it was to be a simple supper because Sunday dinner (typically around 1 p.m.) was to be a much more involved dinner which took time to prepare and — during hard years — certainly cost more. So the simple Saturday supper was a balance to the lovely Sunday dinner.
Beans and franks are a given in New Eng on Sat night/Sun is morning Church….beans give you GAS just thinking is that y they call Church benches… “PEWS”
We always had beans and franks for Saturday nights supper and brown bread and coleslaw and my mom put pineapple in the coleslaw that was my favorite meal as a child!
My mum put pineapple in the coleslaw too! I still like it that way. She liked to use Jacob’s Cattle dry beans, they used to be easy to find in grocery stores and were the go-to bean for many Maine church ladies for the church bean suppers, but now I order them online from California(!) and also grow my own.
Brings back such fond memories of my childhood. I live in Massachusetts and had beans and franks every Saturday night. I used to love making Bean sandwiches. Spread butter on some bread and put the warm beans on and I was a happy child. Fond memories!
We had beans and franks and canned brown bread every Saturday, with Jane Parker spice bar from A&P for dessert. Roy Rogers was on at 4:30, and then dinner. I would wear my Davey Crockett coonskin cap everywhere, but not allowed at the table. Wonderful memories of a simpler time. If the Jane Parker spice bar wasn’t available, there were table talk individual pies.
I have loved all things New England for as long as I can remember. I worked as a nurse in Aroostook County Maine in the early 2000s. This is where I really developed my love for Frank and bean dinners on Saturday nights. From the wonderful women in Caribou Maine, I learned to make baked beans from scratch. These wonderfully rich delicious beans were served alongside frankfurters, potato salad and ployes. Although I no longer live in Caribou, I still make frank and bean dinners at least twice a month.
Grew up in small town in ME. and you better know what Sat. night supper was, and it was wonderful. As far as making children eat food that they don’t like, I too was brought up to eat what served. The worst thing was mixed vegetables
canned or frozen it didn’t matter, they made gag and I still can’t stand them. I have spent a good portion of many Sunday afternoons sitting at the table and it didn’t kill me
And I committed the sacrilege of putting ketchup on the beans, but mustard, celery salt, and relish on the dog if it was in a bun. Otherwise, on the plate, just mustard, and always yellow mustard. I’m more of a Dijon girl now, but still like ketchup on my beans! (I know I’m going to get kickback on this!)
In my family, the go-to condiment for baked beans was red pepper relish (also good on grilled cheese!). Ketchup was side-eyed with judgement, but not banned because my sister was picky and if she would eat it if she was allowed to put ketchup on it, then so be it. Our baked beans were always maple baked beans, because I grew up in Vermont, and no brown bread at our table, just bread and butter. I still use my grandmother’s recipe for baked beans today, in a bean pot, in the oven. Delicious.
My father in law, born in 1906, worked as an apprentice in a bakery on Beale St Wollaston as a young man out of the 8th grade. He said on Friday nights people would be in line to drop off their brown bean pots ( the more affluent would have their last name on the pot) to have beans baked in the ovens overnight. Mid afternoon on Saturday they would come back in to gather their pots for Saturday night dinner and fresh baked brown bread.
Later he became a master carpenter in the family tradition but spoke fondly of people gathering to pick up baked beans and catch up with neighbors.
I would give anything to have my Mom’s baked beans from her crockery bean pot. We had beans and franks on Sat night, cold beans with bacon or ham and eggs on Sunday morning and cold bean sandwiches with the leftover beans. She would bake her beans overnight – my mouth waters now.
My mother had this wonderful big green casserole pot with a handle and lid, I can still see it full of beans with salt pork in it, it was wonderful! Thanks for stirring up a great memory and smell!!
A cultural anecdote to the bean thing: Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles campfire scene.
Unfortunately, due to a cancel attitude, the film is verboten to the unenlightened today. Hey, it is funny.
Actually, it’s on TCM now and then, as is “Young Frankenstein”. You might want to check TCM’s schedule for when the movies are on. I do know that the character Mongo (played by Alex Karras) raised some well-intentioned hackles until Brooks explained that the only reason the character’s named that was to create the joke where someone says fearfully, “Mongo! Santa Maria!” (jazz-based joke). Now, consider what might have happened if Frau Blucher had shown up in the town in “Blazing Saddles”?
“Blazing Saddles”, like most of Mel Brooks’ work, is brilliant. As far as it being a victim of “cancel culture”, I saw it on TCM about two months ago, and you can currently see it on HBOMAX.
Every Saturday in the 1950s, we ate supper with hot dogs, relish, baked beans and brown bread (the last two were from a can because mom worked in a factory and did all her errands and cleaning on Saturdays so no time for baking beans.) If my dad wasn’t due at the fire station, they would drink coffee, too, to get ready for their night at a local social club where they would waltz and jitterbug to a live band! Oh, the excitement of seeing my parents dressed like “movie stars.”
In the 1920s, my father grew up in London, England where RELIGIOUS rules controlled commercial bakers’ oven use. Observant Jews were not allowed uncovered fires from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday, but the bakery ovens needed to maintain minimum warm interior surfaces. Thus, coals were needed to “catch” the coal fire to restart for the next week’s baking. The entire neighborhoods’ bean pots were cooked low and slow at this maintenance time, earning money for the bakers. Also, many homes did not have ovens. As a Shabbos goy, a non-Jew, he was hired by Jews to perform tasks forbidden to them about fires.
Christian sabbath rules about closing shops on Sundays had to be observed too, but people expected fresh-baked goods very early on Monday, so the ovens’ coals were “caught” again, and gradually the baking surfaces were ready for the overnight Sunday baking.
It may not be every Sat night but close to it. Hot dogs, beans and brown bread, sometimes boiled, sometimes grilled, buns no buns. home made beans, sometimes B&Ms. It was great, still today. Its boiled and grilled with grilled bun. What I miss most are the Grange suppers, where my Aunt and cousin would make 4-6 different kinds of beans, soo good. And then of course the desserts, where do you begin ?
As a matter of fact, we had hotdogs and beans Saturday night. it just doesn’t seem right to be a Saturday night without it. During the winter I like to make my own with a recipe from Durgin Park. Still like the smell and the heat from the oven to make winter feel like it does in New England.
Yes red hot dogs and baked beans every Saturday night along with home made potato salad. Yummy
Every Saturday like clockwork .
Every Saturday night, traditional!
I’m a Southern girl, why is this a Saturday night tradition? Can someone explain it’s origins ?
The Pilgrims would bake beans Saturday night so they wouldn’t have to cook on the Sabbath.
You forgot the brown bread!
Yes! I’m from Brooklyn and we had it every Saturday night..my daughter asked where did it come from.
.now I know ????.
Still love it. Toss in a salad or coleslaw. Leftover cold beans on toast for Sunday Breakfast.
I love this article! My family were (are) swamp Yankees from way back. We always had baked beans , franks and brown bread (drenched in butter), Saturday nights. With the left over beans we loved to make bean sandwiches, recipie: bread, mayonnaise and as many beans as you could squeeze between the bread. Thanks for the memories.
I grew up in Ct. My Dad was a born and raised Vermonter. As children we had the tradional Frank’s and beans every Saturday night. Brown bread was also on the table. And, while we watched Gunsmoke, we enjoyed popcorn made in our electric popper. Great memories that last forever
Yes, every Saturday. I make beans using Jacob cattle beans from Freyburg, Maine
Franks and beans were our traditional dinner on Saturday night (some times with brown bread also). B&M beans were our family favorite. When we moved to NJ and could not find the B&M beans here in the 60’s, my parents would bring us a case of them when they came to visit!
Some Saturday night’s I’m the only one eating beans & hot dogs. The family can’t understand why I enjoy this meal, Baby, there SO GOOOD ! Yum, Yum, Yum. Come Sunday morning, any left over beans get put on the plate & accompany my 2 over easy, 3 slices of Spam & golden toast. Eat well this weekend & enjoy !!!!
If you want great brown bread, try making your own-its worth it!
I grew up in Maine and my parents always served beans and franks on Saturday nite. Wednesdays were spaghetti, Fridays fish (we weren’t Catholic but heh, we showed our support), Sundays were pot roast. Never liked beans and franks. The baked beans were fine along with the brown bread but the boiled franks were always floppy and rubbery and Dad wouldn’t allow hot dog buns at the supper table. Buns were for picnics. Piccalilli in the beans helped. As a teenager, I would get invites to friends on Saturday for supper that didn’t do beans and franks. Ahhh, hamburgers in a bun!
I am an original Mainer. In the winter someone or someplace had a baked bean supper. They were the best. Women would try to outdo each other with their baked beans, or rolls or potato salad or coleslaw or pies. They usually served cold cuts like olive loaf or pimento loaf with the beans. That brings back fond memories. Living out in the Midwest now, the only way I can have baked beans is by buying a jar of B & M beans..they are the closest to home made.
We always had franks and beans on Saturday but also with the canned brown bread. Wednesday pasta and meatballs! Friday’s always fish ! Sundays special dinner !
Growing up we always had beans and franks on Saturday nights. My dad liked just the beans and franks, maybe with some cole slaw. As my sister and I got older, we would sometimes get my mom to toast hot dog buns as we liked those. Living in New England was great since we could get slab cut hot dogs buns you could toast on both sides and could get piccalilli relish. I live in Colorado now and those aren’t available here. Fridays we always had fish or cheese pizza (so we were still meatless).
I HAVE TO AGREE WITH HOWARD. NOT AM I THE ONLY ONE IN THE HOUSE THAT EATS THE DOGS AND BEANS (AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN AS WHISTLE BERRIES AND TUBE STEAK) BUT ALL I HAVE TO DO IS OPEN A CAN OF SPAM, FRY A COUPLE OF EGGS AND THE KITCHEN CLEARS OUT!
We didn’t have them necessarily on Saturday nights. The meal could happen anytime. Always with brown bread from the can, steamed with butter. B & M was the name of the bean game and I don’t even remember what kind of dogs we had. I’ve always loved the brown bread and have a can of it still here in my E. Texas pantry. Cole slaw would have been a good add but my mother often supplied her version of a salad which was one lettuce leaf with a slice of tomato on it and sugar atop that. How’s that for a healthy salad? She and my dad each lived to be 94 with that kind of healthy eating. Must’ve been the beans…
Oh, how I remember the beans baking in the oven (heated by the oil stove) all day on Saturday and savoring them with the hot dogs and home made brown bread and home canned bread & butter pickles every Saturday night. MMMMM…!!
North of Boston it was Maple Leaf Franks and Friendly’s Baked Beans. And it was every Sunday night! Hot summer nights, cold snowy nights. You could depend on it!
We were south of Boston and our brands were the same; I thinnk you mean Friend’s beans,who were B&M’ s competition and I believe were eventually aquired by them. I remember Friend’s had several varieties with different colored labels. For hot dogs ,Maple Leaf ruled the roost,with Armour Star brand the also-ran. Ahhh,memories…….don’t forget,it’s bath night….wash behind your ears!
If you recall,the Friend’s beans came in 3 varieties..first, good old pea beans in the light blue can, kidney beans in the red can and yellow eyed in , of course,in the yellow can…
I had forgotten about Maple Leaf Franks, but yes, we ate them and the Friend’s baked beans. My grandmother baked her own beans from scratch and those were the best. We often had brown bread with the beans and franks, too. But always beans and franks on Saturday!
my mother was a transplant from Minnesota to Boston when a newlywed. so she adopted the tradition, and we always had homemade baked beans and home baked brown bread on Saturdays. Delicious and perfect for a winter meal.
While growing up it was beans, franks & usually brown bread every Saturday night. My mother made her own beans. She would soak the beans on Friday overnight then make her own concoction & cook it in the crockpot. We had to eat them, no choice. To this day I despise any kind of brown beans.
In the late late 30’s & early 40’s Baked Bean & B & M brown bread. I believe Jordan Franks. Jordan meat store ( Storer & Main St., next to Sam & Nicks fruit store ) Saco, Maine ) Most important my mother always steam the Franks-Bun. It was great. After us children took our weekly Saturday night bath.
My husband always loved left over baked bean sandwiches with a slice of onion.
My wife and I are both from Vermont. She bakes her own using yellow eye beans ( getting harder to find ) soaks them the night before and bakes them the next day.
Yes, love franks and beans & Saturday night supper. In Midwest Swedish Beans are soooo good. Like little morsels of candy, laced with cut hotdogs, topped with a squirt of yellow mustard. Left over bean sandwich with slice of onion, mustard and a little mayo. Always on Wonder Bread!
Yes we sure did.
Tradition is great. Glad to hear others had same weekly food menu…beans, franks, brown bread (with raisins pleas), on Sat., Weds. spaghetti with Mom’s homemade [entirely not Italian] version of spaghetti sauce, Friday fish (still hat it) and Sunday big roast (beef, pork, chicken) dinner. I used to make my own baked beans – many hours in oven, made with molasses, not the pale kind with maple syrup, and with homemade green tomato piccalilli (?) that I made with an aunt. We still have B&M baked beans, franks, and B&M brownbread here in FL.
BUT…No New England hot dog rolls in FL
yes, many places in and near Sarasota sell New England style (top cut) hot dog rolls. If you are near Englewood or North Port Fl. go to Twin Lobsters. They always have them.
Always been a favourite and we could have that any night of the week… Now, after many years of cooking for a family, I especially enjoy a delicious and simple supper like franks and beans.
Grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts corner Mugford and Mechanic streets. Saturday afternoon mom would send me down to the Eco Store (across from the Old Town House) Gilbert Harrington , manager to purchase several pounds of Hot Dogs. Then after 6:00 up up Mechanic Street to Mrs. Hammond’s house on Mechanic Court (just down the hollow behind Gerry School) She baked beans and brown bread for the whole neighborhood on her old wood fired black stove. Carried a large aluminum pot with handle and cover. Mrs. Hammond would dish out the bake beans into my pail. Putting a large piece of fat pork, with a “command that this was for my father” the brown bread was wrapped and place on top of the beans and off I went back to the house. The franks were always boiled. brown bread smothered with butter and I like to add sugar on both the beans and brown bread. Boy oh boy what a great meal!
Loved this article and all the comments. Still cannot beat B & M beans. Ate cold baked bean sandwiches during the power outage from Hurricane Carol in 1954.
on Saturday night it was baked beans, steamed brown bread and steak…no hot dogs at my house..I loved eating at my friends house because they had HOT DOGS…her Father use to say “I’ll go to your house and eat steak”
Growing up in the 1950s in Rhode Island after — at that time — more than 300 years of family history in New England — of course we ate beans and franks and brown bread on Saturday night. When my father moved us to South Carolina in 1958 as he followed the textile industry south, we thought our Saturday tradition was over. Family saved us by sending us boxes of brown bread from Providence, my mother made a pot of beans every Saturday for years until B&M beans became available in South Carolina and we tolerated the wrong kind of hot dog rolls because New England hot dog rolls just weren’t available. We had only lived there a couple of months when we were invited to join another family for dinner on a Saturday evening. My six year old self was concerned because I had never had anything for Saturday night supper except franks, beans, and brown bread. Imagine my surprise when we sat down at the table and I found franks, beans, and brown bread. Turns out the other family had moved south from Massachusetts to follow the textile industry. I still have that old bean pot my mother used, but I haven’t made a pot of beans in many years. I have to admit both B&M and Bushes make very good beans and it is so much easier. We can get the proper rolls here in New Jersey, so that is good. I never converted my wife or daughter to brown bread, so I just have that by myself as a snack or toasted for breakfast like my grandparents used to do back in RI. The memories of a pot of beans cooked all day will have to do for now.
Not only did I grow up with baked beans & hot dogs on Saturday night, my grandmother would steam brown bread & bake beans to sell to regulars in the neighborhood. Can still see them stopping by for their “take out” 🙂
Reading these inputs makes me want to go home and make up a pot of beans. I grew up in Lisbon, Maine and it was tradition to have beans, franks and brown bread on Saturday night. My dad kept a crock full of his own salt pork in the garage and on Saturday morning would add the salt pork and his secret ingredients to the bean pot and cook them all day. My three sisters would have that scowl on their face while the three boys enjoyed the beans and homemade cornbread. Two of my sisters won’t eat beans to this day but I miss the taste of B&M beans. Will have to look for a good recipe and plan on cooking up some beans, substitute the franks with bratwurst and some brown bread. Served with German beer of course.
I haven’t heard much discussion about the hot dogs, best and what brand. I knew a guy in Townshend VT that had a stand on the common and he sold ESSEM. He got the advice from many customers what’s the best dog. They were good.
Essem were awesome were the best!
Kirschner red hot dogs….the best!
Spot on! I grew up in Athletics, Massachusetts, with family all over New England—Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, etc. Yes, Saturday dinner was always beans, Franks, and brown bread. (I’m 82 and remember it all, like it was last Saturday.)
We had our homemade Boston Baked Beans & Maple Leaf hot dogs with homemade fried bread dough dipped in warm maple syrup. Leftovers were for breakfast on Sunday
Lol, even though we, posters here, don’t know each other, we have so much in common. Baked beans for Saturday evening dinner, though sometimes my mom would serve baked beans for Sunday dinner. The baked beans on Saturday were usually the wonderful home baked ones. My mom used her aunts recipe, which everyone, who tasted these beans, seemed to love and would ask for the recipe. I’ve no idea what made them so special. With both the home baked and the canned beans my mom would grease the pan with a bit of salt pork, which no one ate, it was just there for flavor. If she didn’t have any, she would use a skimpy slice of bacon and if there were only two slices of bacon left in the package, she might use both, depending on her mood was thrifty or not. It was usually thrifty. My mom preferred to use navy beans, which is what the original recipe called for, but at some point her aunt decided to bake her beans using kidney beans and suggested everyone try using those instead, which everyone did. Mom still preferred navy beans, but would use red kidney beans on occasion depending on which she preferred that day.
Now we lived next door to family, aunts/uncles and grandparents, so being the eldest grandchild, the other being much young; I was given the job of going house to house to collect everyone’s pan and bring them back their share of Saturday night’s beans, from the home of whichever family member had baked that Saturday night’s beans. Mostly the baked beans were served with hot dogs, with yellow mustard and sweet relish. Later some tried and preferred the brown mustard and Howard red relish on their hot dogs, not me. I did however, like when my grandmother served her beans with pork chops and occasionally would ask me to stay for dinner with her and grandpa. Baked beans and pork chops seemed extra special.
New England style hot dog rolls, is there any other perfect roll to serve a hot dog in? No. Those, other style of hot dog rolls are hot dog buns. I never understood why anyone likes them, they have way too much too crust all around them. You can’t even toast or grill the sides to make them crisp and warm before placing the hot dog in them. You can try to toast or grill the inside which causes those other style buns to fall apart. Additionally, the NE style rolls are even best toasted or grilled with lobster salad. I’d love to know the history of the difference between the New England style hot dog rolls and the non-NE buns.
After our Saturday night of home baked beans or a Sunday night dinner of B&M canned beans, my mom would get out a package of gingerbread mix and bake a pan of gingerbread cake. If we were especially lucky, she would have a can of whipped cream to top each serving. This again depended upon Mom’s mood, thrifty or extravagent. A can of cream was expensive and mom preferred whip cream made from scratch, but not enough to make it for gingerbread topping. A few years later, we sometimes had cool whip on the gingerbread cake.
How times change. Probably in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s, a family member started adding crushed pineapple to the bottom of the bean pot. Then another added a chopped up ham slice with the pineapple and someone else added grilled green peppers and all this went into a crockpot to bring to parties. Aah, times gone by. Over the years, my dh finally learned to like baked beans, follwing our son’s lead, as our son loves baked beans. Currently, we prefer Bush’s bourbon grilling beans, but some weekend, I really should dig out the old family recipe and try making my great aunts all day baked beans which I might serve with pork chops like my grandma would do.
A bit of history as I seem someone else had a neighbor who baked beans and sold them on Saturday evenings. My dad’s great aunts used to tell me how their grandmother, who ran a boarding house, would cook large pots of beans and sell them to the folks who worked in the local shoe factories, to purchase an inexpensive hot meal to bring home to the family or take to work. On the other side of my dad’s family, his aunt told me her family would make up sandwiches to sell at the local factory, that her dad would take with him to sell to anyone who needed a meal. I think she said her dad was a factory foreman and this served two purposes, a wee bit more cash for his family and workers who didn’t bring a meal, could purchase an inexpensive sandwich and not be hungry on the job.
So for the “modern” cook (i.e., needing shortcuts), which beans should be used, how are they heated (in a saucepan or in the oven??). Pic looks like franks (hot dogs) are sliced and cooked in the beans. Good or bad? Pic also shows that the bread (which I see in cans in my grocery stores in Cleveland, Ohio) is toasted. By the way, I am a New Englander through my mom. She was born near Woodland, Maine in August, 1917. Her family moved to Cleveland a few years later. I am happy to say she is still a tough New England lady … she turned 100 years old last August and is going on 101 this year, still living in her own home (we all live nearby and help her out). When people in Cleveland marvel at her age, I always say it’s because she was born in Maine!!!
What fun to read everyone’s comments! Growing up in New England we all have so much in common. Thanks to Yankee doll Magazine we can share our memories. I got to wondering about weekly food traditions. Do people still have them? Saturday night was always beans and franks night for supper. Sunday was always the day for a roast of some kind served midday. And I’m just remembering codfish cakes that we ate on fridays. Didn’t those go with beans too?
Some folks asked about bean pots. You can get them from Pot Shop of Boston. They make several sizes. My dad had a West bend electric pot that made delicious beans every Saturday. Like one reader mentioned, family members living nearby received a container filled with beans as soon as they were cooked. My dad alternated between hot dogs and “scotch ham” for the meat, but always brown bread in the can warmed in the oven slathered with butter! Was there a better supper?
Living in Tennessee but still a Cape Codder at heart, I still remember the Saturday night suppers with Friends beans and knockwurst. The beans were amazing and I was the first to stab a knockwurst and listen for the pop that they made. I have served this meal for over 30 years now to my kids. Great tradition to pass down!
My family is from CT and we always had wieners, baked beans and potatoes baked in the oven.
Oh, yes, do I remember franks and beans night! I grew up in Northern California with a Souther Calif. beach girl for a mom and a dad who hailed from Brockton, Mass. Mom always served our franks and beans with warm brown bread and softened butter that melted so beautifully into all the little air holes on the bread slices. To my dad, franks and beans night meant bean sandwiches on white bread the next day. To my mom, it meant that the weekend was here — time for family fun! I miss them both every day.
I’m NOT a native-born New Englander – was born near Lake Ontario in upstate New York – but I believe I AM a New Englander by heart-and-soul. I feel such a connection to all things New England. All things old too, for that matter. Enjoy reading “Yankee” so much and especially this online version where readers can also post comments. Reading the comments of native New Englanders is so enjoyable – no matter what the topic. Thanks to everyone who takes the time and trouble to comment – you’re enriching my life and I’m sure many others!
Spent my summer’s in Maine with my grandparents who owned and operated a few cottages. My grandmother would bake and sell beans and brown bread every Saturday night. I have her recipes and a tin she steamed the bread in. Occasionally have them myself.
Out here in the Milwaukee area, I found B & M brown bread at a local Piggly Wiggly store. The manager decided not carry it anymore until several of us transplanted New Englanders complaigned…He brought it back….Some times I hunt thru the store to find it. It has been in the bread section, The baking section, the veggie section, until we convinced him to put it in the bean section…He now carries the B & M baked beans as well. Once a month I have a New England themed weekend for meals….Fri night, Fish and Chips and Clam Chowda, Saturday night Beans & Franks & Brown Bread, Sunday afternoon New England boiled dinner. Monday lunch, Cold Bean sandwiches Other themed weekends include Southern weekend, German weekend, Italian weekend…We are a retired Navy family and have been stationed in all four corners of the country…I just wish I could find New England style hot dog rolls out here.
I like that theme idea! Going to do the NE one this week!
I buy the New England style rolls from Famous Foods. I also buy the Gaspars Sausages because we didn’t have availability in some places I was assigned (retired Navy). Publix sells Gaspars products, but difficult to find New England style beans and buns. We usually had Hotdogs boiled with potatoes and onions. Had the baked beans on the side. Miss those days.
Publix here in SC carries Pepperidge Farms split top hot dog rolls. They also carry B&M baked beans.
I enjoyed reading these comments so much. I’m not from New England but have a deep affinity for all things New England. I grew up in a tiny town in Eastern Long Island which has been described as more New England than NY. Both sides of my family went deep with baked beans and I’m not sure why since they were all generation after generation NYers. Baked beans were (and are) THE staple for every family gathering based on my great-aunts recipe (who still usually makes them). Especially Easter, they go SO well with ham. She never used a bean pot but always in a large casserole dish using B&M which were always the kind used and always the best. Her secret ingredient was Heinz chili sauce and also added brown sugar, mustard (powder is fine), a bit of minced onion. Cooked low and slow until the beans were thick. We’ve all been cooking them this way for many years and most people have never had them this way. We’ve been handing out the basic rules of the recipe for decades because people just love them. Every gathering it’s the 1 thing that goes. Most people are used to just having the liquidy version straight from the can. As far as Franks go, whenever we had BBQ’s and would grill hot dogs they were never, EVER served without baked beans. Usually for quick dinners we’d put the same ingredients in a stove pot and simmer them down instead of doing the hours long cooking which was more for special occasions. We’d usually put the beans on the hotdog and also have ruffled potato chips to scoop up beans like a dip. The best. The term “Franks ‘n’ Beans” in our house though, meant baked beans with sliced hot dogs mixed in while cooking. Just served in a bowl with a spoon. My Dad who was born in 1950 said they had a specific meal they’d have each day of the week and Franks & Beans were on Mondays I think, not Saturdays. My family can be traced back to the original settlers from the area I’m from so I wonder if that has anything to do with having baked beans be a deeply rooted staple in my family? Much like it’s a common theme through New England history as some of the earliest settlers from our country settled there. It obviously came over from England where baked beans were and still are a staple. Must be it! Never did have Brown Bread though which I guess never reached our area but wanting to try it.
You can buy brown bread in a can at the grocery store – even here on Alabama
If it was B&M brown bread, unfortunately because the factory was sold in Portland Maine and the recipe sold to another facility out of state, I do not think we will be seeing the brown bread any longer. I live in East Tennessee now and could find brown bread in Food City, but went last week, and it was no longer available.
Why on earth would you force a child to eat something she hates? Every week? That’s monstrous!!
Because our parents grew up in the depression where they had little choice on the food that was available. So it was eat something you don’t like or starve. Being the youngest my parents were more lax but my older sibling grew up having to eat the food that was cooked for them. They are all healthy adults with no psychological issues being made to eat what my mother cooked. No one is over weight and we all have a respect for adults and not being wasteful or raising spoiled children with an attitude of entitlement that I see so much in today’s youth. It wasn’t monstrous it was teaching values.
Growing up in the 50s there was one supper on the table. Take it or go hungry. I learned to like liver, asparagus, you name it! Sure you might not have enjoyed every meal, but we were happy there was a meal!
Totally agree with what everyone is saying about eating what is put in front of you. Its how I was raised, and how I raised my son. I have/had neither the time, money, nor patience to cater to picky tastebuds(within reason)and he is grateful I can provide a decent, nourishing dinner every night. And yeah, if he doesn’t like it…..there is always cereal in the cupboard.
I wholeheartedly agree with you. Well said.
It was the same way in our house. If you didn’t want what was cooked you either went without or had cereal. Nothing different was cooked.
Because in the 50s a meal was put on the table and you either ate it or you didn’t. There was no such thing as making a different meal for each person.
In reply to all of this, yes we had to eat all that was on our plates and as time went by I learned to enjoy a lot of different foods. I now try just about as many foods from different cultures. I told my children and grandchildren to at least try it once, if they don’t like it then pass on it.
In reply to all of this, yes we had to eat all that was on our plates and as time went by I learned to enjoy a lot of different foods. I now try just about as many foods from different cultures. I told my children and grandchildren to at least try it once, if they don’t like it then pass on it. And yes, Sat. night and Sunday meals were the best.
I agree, forcing someone to eat something they hate is monstrous. My children will eat whatever we serve without complaint. If there is something they haven’t tried, I ask only for one polite bite. That has morphed into a 9 and 11 year old with fantastic palates. They try everything and eat what they like from what is offered.
I love the comments . My family did the same also used spam fried, so good.
In our house we ate what was set before us . Both parents grew up in the depression years,Dad was a WWII veteran and both valued good food and nutrition. Like it or not
Making your own beans is not hard. I soak Jacob’s Cattle or Yellow Eyes overnight and give them about six hours in the slow cooker the next day. I start out with Marjorie Standish’s old-time recipe that is not too sweet and use extra dry mustard and some allspice and ginger. Kirschner’s hot dogs aren’t as good as they used to be when they were made in Augusta, Maine., but they are still better than most. My 86 year-old mother makes a relish from peppers and onions that is an ideal compliment.
I just finished reading through all the comments and was tempted to respond to many of them. However,two things that come to mind: THe first is that I grew up in a small town, and whenever there was a bake sale, Mrs. M always contributed homemade baked beans for sale. For health reasons that is not allowed today. The second thing is that not so very long ago I taught in a small school where the kitchen was in the basement right below my room with an open stairwell leading to my coat closet. All the food was home cooked. When baked beans were on the menu they were always started the day before, (as was the turkey when it was to be served) , and we were tantallized by the aroma for a day before they were served! Too bad that can’t be done today.
How wonderful to run across this. I’m originally from New England relocating to the South 30+ years ago. I had this overwhelming craving for Boston brown bread. I made some yesterday and OMG, how I’ve missed it. So, that led me to craving Boston baked beans which I’m cooking as I write. Yes, that was our traditional Saturday night dinner. Beans, franks and brown bread. Yesterday while making the brown bread, my house smelled like childhood memories. I have enjoyed reading all the comments.
Closest thing to New England split buns I have found nationally are the King’s Hawaiian brand.
We grew up in Ct. But my father was from Maine. Our Saturday our hotdogs and beans had to have molasses on the side. Occasionally brown bread.on Saturday night..My father was from Maine. He moved to Ct where we were raised.
My dad was from Maine too.Saturday nights were not dogs beans and molasses(all Maine houses keep molasses) If we are lucky we had brown bread, loved it.
Every Saturday and we usually bought the beans from Vic’s Bakery in Lowell, MA.
My mom (small town N H) was renowned for her baked beans and made them for nearly every town “supper” in the 50s & 60s. Growing up we had them freshly baked every Saturday night (with hotdogs and brown bread) and leftover every Thursday (with bacon and liver). Ugh! I didn’t learn to enjoy baked beans until I was well into my 40s. Never once did I make or serve baked beans to my kids. Imagine… New Englanders who never tasted a baked bean as a child.
But *why* franks and beans every Saturday night? There was a reason, at least this is what my mother taught us; it was to be a simple supper because Sunday dinner (typically around 1 p.m.) was to be a much more involved dinner which took time to prepare and — during hard years — certainly cost more. So the simple Saturday supper was a balance to the lovely Sunday dinner.
Beans and franks are a given in New Eng on Sat night/Sun is morning Church….beans give you GAS just thinking is that y they call Church benches… “PEWS”
We always had beans and franks for Saturday nights supper and brown bread and coleslaw and my mom put pineapple in the coleslaw that was my favorite meal as a child!
My mum put pineapple in the coleslaw too! I still like it that way. She liked to use Jacob’s Cattle dry beans, they used to be easy to find in grocery stores and were the go-to bean for many Maine church ladies for the church bean suppers, but now I order them online from California(!) and also grow my own.
Brings back such fond memories of my childhood. I live in Massachusetts and had beans and franks every Saturday night. I used to love making Bean sandwiches. Spread butter on some bread and put the warm beans on and I was a happy child. Fond memories!
We had beans and franks and canned brown bread every Saturday, with Jane Parker spice bar from A&P for dessert. Roy Rogers was on at 4:30, and then dinner. I would wear my Davey Crockett coonskin cap everywhere, but not allowed at the table. Wonderful memories of a simpler time. If the Jane Parker spice bar wasn’t available, there were table talk individual pies.
I have loved all things New England for as long as I can remember. I worked as a nurse in Aroostook County Maine in the early 2000s. This is where I really developed my love for Frank and bean dinners on Saturday nights. From the wonderful women in Caribou Maine, I learned to make baked beans from scratch. These wonderfully rich delicious beans were served alongside frankfurters, potato salad and ployes. Although I no longer live in Caribou, I still make frank and bean dinners at least twice a month.
Grew up in small town in ME. and you better know what Sat. night supper was, and it was wonderful. As far as making children eat food that they don’t like, I too was brought up to eat what served. The worst thing was mixed vegetables
canned or frozen it didn’t matter, they made gag and I still can’t stand them. I have spent a good portion of many Sunday afternoons sitting at the table and it didn’t kill me
And I committed the sacrilege of putting ketchup on the beans, but mustard, celery salt, and relish on the dog if it was in a bun. Otherwise, on the plate, just mustard, and always yellow mustard. I’m more of a Dijon girl now, but still like ketchup on my beans! (I know I’m going to get kickback on this!)
And the Brits eat beans on toast for a meal.
In my family, the go-to condiment for baked beans was red pepper relish (also good on grilled cheese!). Ketchup was side-eyed with judgement, but not banned because my sister was picky and if she would eat it if she was allowed to put ketchup on it, then so be it. Our baked beans were always maple baked beans, because I grew up in Vermont, and no brown bread at our table, just bread and butter. I still use my grandmother’s recipe for baked beans today, in a bean pot, in the oven. Delicious.
My father in law, born in 1906, worked as an apprentice in a bakery on Beale St Wollaston as a young man out of the 8th grade. He said on Friday nights people would be in line to drop off their brown bean pots ( the more affluent would have their last name on the pot) to have beans baked in the ovens overnight. Mid afternoon on Saturday they would come back in to gather their pots for Saturday night dinner and fresh baked brown bread.
Later he became a master carpenter in the family tradition but spoke fondly of people gathering to pick up baked beans and catch up with neighbors.
I would give anything to have my Mom’s baked beans from her crockery bean pot. We had beans and franks on Sat night, cold beans with bacon or ham and eggs on Sunday morning and cold bean sandwiches with the leftover beans. She would bake her beans overnight – my mouth waters now.
My mother had this wonderful big green casserole pot with a handle and lid, I can still see it full of beans with salt pork in it, it was wonderful! Thanks for stirring up a great memory and smell!!
A cultural anecdote to the bean thing: Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles campfire scene.
Unfortunately, due to a cancel attitude, the film is verboten to the unenlightened today. Hey, it is funny.
Actually, it’s on TCM now and then, as is “Young Frankenstein”. You might want to check TCM’s schedule for when the movies are on. I do know that the character Mongo (played by Alex Karras) raised some well-intentioned hackles until Brooks explained that the only reason the character’s named that was to create the joke where someone says fearfully, “Mongo! Santa Maria!” (jazz-based joke). Now, consider what might have happened if Frau Blucher had shown up in the town in “Blazing Saddles”?
“Blazing Saddles”, like most of Mel Brooks’ work, is brilliant. As far as it being a victim of “cancel culture”, I saw it on TCM about two months ago, and you can currently see it on HBOMAX.
Every Saturday in the 1950s, we ate supper with hot dogs, relish, baked beans and brown bread (the last two were from a can because mom worked in a factory and did all her errands and cleaning on Saturdays so no time for baking beans.) If my dad wasn’t due at the fire station, they would drink coffee, too, to get ready for their night at a local social club where they would waltz and jitterbug to a live band! Oh, the excitement of seeing my parents dressed like “movie stars.”
In the 1920s, my father grew up in London, England where RELIGIOUS rules controlled commercial bakers’ oven use. Observant Jews were not allowed uncovered fires from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday, but the bakery ovens needed to maintain minimum warm interior surfaces. Thus, coals were needed to “catch” the coal fire to restart for the next week’s baking. The entire neighborhoods’ bean pots were cooked low and slow at this maintenance time, earning money for the bakers. Also, many homes did not have ovens. As a Shabbos goy, a non-Jew, he was hired by Jews to perform tasks forbidden to them about fires.
Christian sabbath rules about closing shops on Sundays had to be observed too, but people expected fresh-baked goods very early on Monday, so the ovens’ coals were “caught” again, and gradually the baking surfaces were ready for the overnight Sunday baking.
It may not be every Sat night but close to it. Hot dogs, beans and brown bread, sometimes boiled, sometimes grilled, buns no buns. home made beans, sometimes B&Ms. It was great, still today. Its boiled and grilled with grilled bun. What I miss most are the Grange suppers, where my Aunt and cousin would make 4-6 different kinds of beans, soo good. And then of course the desserts, where do you begin ?
As a matter of fact, we had hotdogs and beans Saturday night. it just doesn’t seem right to be a Saturday night without it. During the winter I like to make my own with a recipe from Durgin Park. Still like the smell and the heat from the oven to make winter feel like it does in New England.