Did someone say RAIDers? That's one word that will make Cochran & Christie scatter out of the kitchen! I see the German Cockroach and the American Cochroach made the Most Wanted list! Maybe if I sang or hopped around, I would be more likeable. Oh, well, I know my readers like me!
If we're talking about Paul Revere & the Raiders, that's a different "can" of worms. Paul Revere & the Raiders were a rock group in the mid-1960s and '70s, led by organist Paul Revere Dick. He started out as a barber and then opened a fast-food restaurant (our hero). He met singer Mark Lindsay when he was picking up hamburger buns at the bakery across the street where Lindsay worked! The group later made some bread, too!
When the members were walking down the street to pick up their cleaning one day, they walked past a costume shop where a mannequin in the front window was dressed up in Revolutionary War clothing. They went inside the shop and rented the costumes to wear at their concert as a joke. It was fun wearing the costumes, but they grew tired of wearing them after a while. Since the clothes were considered their trademark, they didn't think they could stopping wearing them.
The tricorne hat was the popular style in the 17th and 18th centuries, worn by both civilian and military officers. The advantage of wearing the hat was that the turned-up portions of the brim formed gutters that directed rainwater away from the wearer's face, allowing most of the water to fall over his shoulders. Pretty cool, huh? It was replaced by the bicorne, worn by military officers from 1790-1914.
| Authentic tricorne hat |
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| Napoleon Bonaparte wearing bicorne hat |
We can't talk about the French Revolution today, so getting back to the American Revolution brings us back to Boston. In the 1700s, there was a demand for molasses to produce rum in Boston (Triangular Trade). At that time, molasses was added to local baked bean recipes, creating Boston Baked Beans. Brown bread and baked beans were a popular meal on Saturdays and Sundays in Massachusetts, at least until the 1930s. That's how Boston got the nickname Beantown!
This is the perfect time to watch Chowder with the Sing Beans (although the picture quality's not too great). I think I saw a tricorne hat on one of the characters - watch closely!
If you add cut-up hotdogs to your beans, it's called franks and beans. If you add beef and mustard, it's called cowboy beans.
COWBOY BAKED BEANS
6 slices bacon
2 lbs. lean ground beef or turkey
64 oz. pork and beans
1 onion, chopped
1 cup Grandma’s Unsulphured Molasses
1 cup ketchup
1/3-2/3 cup mustard
Cook bacon; drain and crumble. Cook beef or turkey in bacon grease. Drain off excess fat. Add beans, onion, molasses, ketchup, and mustard. Simmer for a few hours and serve.
ENJOY!
Now that you've got a bellyful of beans, let's watch the Yankee Doodle Cricket!
