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Grandma Cournoyer's Baked Beans

This is my great-grandmother (my mother's mother's mother) Cournoyer's recipe for baked beans. It takes a lot of time to prepare--time being a commodity that my great-grandmother and her peers had a lot more of than we seem to have today--and it's worth every blessed second that it takes to prepare it.


1 quart (2 lbs.) pea or navy beans
cold water to cover
10 oz. piece of salt pork
2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1-1/2 cups boiling water
3/4 tsp. dry mustard
onion (optional, but recommended)


Soak beans overnight. Next morning, drain beans. Cover with fresh water. Bring slowly to boiling point. Simmer for 30 minutes or until beans wrinkle. Rinse beans again with cold water. Place in 2-quart bean pot.
Mix remaining ingredients in boiling water. Pour over beans in pot. Cover and bake slowly (250º F. -300º F.) for 9 hours.
Every half hour or so, add water to beans as needed. If you wish, substitute brown sugar for molasses. One whole, peeled onion may be added to the bottom of the pot. (Recommended)


Azama (Turgeon) Cournoyer