calico beans with a twist and surprise rolls

Calico beans has become a favorite family meal, especially good for a large group on a cold fall evening. The recipe usually calls for a can each of lima beans (I often use a package of frozen), baked beans,  kidney beans and white beans. Drain all the beans except for the baked beans. Add a pound of browned ground beef or ground turkey and 6-8 slices of bacon chopped fine along with 3 tsp dry mustard, a cup of brown sugar, some catsup or tomato sauce, and 2-3 Tb vinegar. The recipe is flexible and I made it in a crock pot yesterday, substituting black beans for the lima beans, so it was not as pretty as with the green limas. I had more room in the crock pot so decided to add a can of pumpkin puree. It was thicker, but delicious and so nutritious. The Gardener could detect the difference right away and said he preferred the original calico beans, so we'll see what I do next time!

Calico beans are always good with bread and a salad, so I picked up these slightly expensive rolls on a whim (Sara!) at Tar-get. They were P R E T Z E L  rolls -- I've never had these before, but they took me right back to the streets of Manhattan and how we loved to buy hot pretzels. Tasted very similar. Yummy.