America: United We Stand
“America, love it or leave it!” The words haunt me still. I remember being young in the ’60s when stickers peeled off the chrome bumpers of high-set pickup trucks and flags flapped in the faces of teenagers waving flowers in response. I remember people walking with eyes downcast, fearful that even a silent contact with the “other side” might ignite an angry retort. And there were guardsmen in the street and children gunned down in Ohio, and I heard the mournful songs of protest and the anguish of illusions extinguished.
Americans are, by nature, optimists. If our ancestors had not believed in our limitless possibilities, most of us would not be living here today. Americans believe in an “inalienable right … to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” and we flung open our doors to “huddled masses yearning to be free.” Those are the words engraved on that great symbol of our pride, the Statue of Liberty. The door seems to have slammed shut and “one nation indivisible” is, once again, sorely divided.
Once again, we have plunged in a few short years from the annealing bond of a nation in grief to a nation divided. Another war in a land we don’t understand, and few of us will ever visit, has Americans depressed and lashing out. Yesterday was the Fourth of July and I heard the echo of “America-love it or leave it” as the sharp smoke of fireworks still lingered on the breeze.
Independence Day, our traditional celebration of all the things that make this country, and its people, truly great. Independence Day, the day we celebrate the values we hold most dear.
Virtues like community, brotherhood and that long list of constitutional rights-freedom of speech, worship, petition for redress-and, yes, even the right to bear arms. These are values worth fighting for-only, why are we fighting each other?
This summer, as we spend our days in the sun, why not mend the tears before they go too deep by sharing traditional foods that have bound us together for generations. Hot dogs and barbecue, ice cream and apple pie, chocolate chip cookies and anything baked at home. It is a season for sharing our gifts.
BOSTON BAKED BEANS
Serves 8 – 10
T
his summer some of you may show your colors with great slabs of Texas barbecue; others, with Boston baked beans, but both dishes have more in common, than not. Rich with smoky pork, a little sweet, a tad spicy and deeply complex from hours of slow cooking, both express a uniquely American flavor sensibility. For me, the best Texas barbecue- in fact, one of the best foods in the country- is the back slabs from Sonny Bryan’s roadside shack in Dallas. I won’t tamper with perfection, so for ribs, I buy them. Beans are another matter. I have never had better beans out than I can bake at home, so here is an American classic good enough to bring a mist of nostalgia to the most politically jaundiced eye.
Try them with grilled hot dogs and a side of crisp slaw, or, be traditional and team them with a steamed can of anadama bread, named by a Puritan spouse who came home from the fields to find his wife had gone politickin’ in town, leaving bread and beans in the cooling oven-“Anna, damn her!”
1 pound dried navy or Great Northern beans, rinsed and soaked overnight
1/2 pound thick slab bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 Tbs. minced garlic
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup and molasses, mixed
1/2 cup ketchup
1 Tbs. English dry mustard
2 Tbs. minced ginger
1 Tbs. sea salt
2 bay leaves
2 Tbs. rum or bourbon, optional
1. Put the soaked beans in a heavy saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid.
2. Preheat oven to 250-degrees.
3. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the bacon. Add onions to wilt, then add garlic and cook until it colors. Stir in brown sugar until dissolved and then add the molasses mix, ketchup, mustard, salt, ginger and 2 cups of liquid, cooking until well mixed and flavorful. Add beans and bay leaves. Bring to a boil.
4. Cover the pan tightly and bake 3 hours, stirring occasionally, careful to scrape the bottom. Add more liquid if it seems too thick (should be syrupy). During the last half hour, add rum or bourbon-don’t worry, the alcohol burns away.
This is best eaten as the Pilgrims did it-a day later and at room temperature, but it’s still good straight out of the oven.