I had been anticipating record highs again, but thankfully they dropped the
temperatures for our upcoming forecast. One day will even be cool and the
hotter weather is now pushed off into next week. At any rate, I am
continuing on with my plan for baked beans in the Crock-Pot.

I always start with caramelized onions but I am always amazed at how much
they do cook down. I prefer Walla Walla Sweets for this but they have not
hit the grocery stores yet. We just had the big onion festival. I asked at
the community FB group and they have been spotted at a few Farmer's Markets
and also a market that I'll be going by on Wed. that appears to sell mostly
produce and in the winter, Christmas trees. It has been there for longer
than I've lived in the area but I have never been there. Reason being that a
few people I know said they did stop by and they weren't super impressed. I
never see many customers there either. But... If I can't find them when I do
my grocery shop, then I will stop there on my way home to get some.

I also didn't realize that I had only half a bag of beans. So these will be
a tad heavy on the onions, even for me. I used 6 caramelized Vidalia's and
two raw white onions. Also a goodly handful of bacon strips, cooked and
chopped into small pieces. A good amount of ketchup, a little mustard
powder, salt, tons of freshly ground black pepper and small amounts of brown
sugar and molasses. After tasting, I decided to add a little tomato paste. I
also added some of the bean cooking water and will stash some more in the
fridge in case I need to add more later. I always think I will need some
because they will start to look dry but then if I wait a little while, for
whatever reason, they will give off more liquid.

This will cook throughout the night. Depending on the look and taste, I may
turn the pot off in the afternoon or I may just leave them till dinner. I
have cooked them on low for as long as 20 hours and they've been fine. I
always start on high for about an hour just to get them going.

And... All for me! For some reason, the only other person I know who likes
these beans is one of my nephews. Other family members do like baked beans
but prefer them from a can or jar. I'm no bean snob. I'll eat from can or
jar too. It's just that the way that I make these, the carb count is less
than most recipes due to the caramelized onion. Just don't give me BBQ
beans. That's about the only kind I really don't like.