"Everybody's working for the weekend..."

Friday dawned sunny and a little chilly. But, if you're a working man, it doesn't matter if it's sleeting and 40 degrees below - its still Friday! TGIF!!

Once I was home, I treated the cats and changed clothes. But, before I go out to work on the raised bed veggie garden, I thought I'd get my kicked-up version of an old classic started for dinner.

Now back in the 50's and 60's, there was a one-dish dinner just called "Hot dogs and beans." I must admit, I never see or even hear of this anymore. Basically, you took a pack of hot dogs and sliced them into 1/4 to 1/2-inch rounds. You added them to a couple of cans of Campbell's baked beans, (I think the only canned beans available at that time) in a pot and heated it up. To that, you added a healthy squirt of yellow mustard and some molasses. It was inexpensive, simple, tasty and filling.

Well, my idea was to substitute smoked sausage for the hot dogs. So I cut the sausage into 1/4 pieces, sliced on the bias. I added two tablespoons of bacon grease (for even more smoky flavor) to my big saute pan and put a nice sear on the sausage slices. Then I pulled out the meat with a slotted spoon and drained off the grease.

Next, I added one of those big three-pound cans of Campbell's pork and beans to the pan (now, I could have used one of the several varieties of upscale baked beans, but I wanted to recreate the old-fashioned taste I remembered). I put the sausage back in. Then I added two tablespoons of yellow mustard and one tablespoon of molasses. I mixed it all together and heated it up to a boil, then turned it down to simmer.

I threw a load of clothes in the washer, grabbed the compost shifter and the shovel and headed out back. I managed to get two full wheelbarrows shifted and added to the garden (and that's all I needed, I'm thinking). Satisfied, I went back inside, put the tools in the garage and washed up. I put the clothes in the dryer and got some food.

I ate my dinner watching the Friday night fights. Although it's certainly not "gourmet" food, it was very good! In fact, I had two bowls in all, which I presume both the cats and I will regret sometime later during the night...