Remember when Mother made sausage after butchering time? Nostril-tickling, tantalizing fragrance filled the kitchen. She fried small patties so the family could decide whether the seasoning was just right. Mother's sausage had three parts lean pork to one part fat. Her recipe for seasoning was a cherished secret, handed down from her great grandmother. It had sage, nutmeg, black pepper, some brown sugar, and a smidgen of white pepper. But that wasn't the whole story. She also used a whisker of various dried herbs that she raised beneath the kitchen window. When Father and I came in from morning chores and whiffed that wonderful, saliva-starting fragrance, it meant a superlative breakfast. "Hope Rosie fries enough," Father would say.
I am not fussy about food. I'm like Father — merely particular. If a man is going to put some 75,000 meals into his stomach in a normal lifetime, it is logical to take an intelligent interest in his fodder. One of the major developments in recent years is the popularity of casserole dishes. Today's recipe, baked limas with sausage, is a delicious, hearty combination. A man can make a meal on it and know he has foddered well.
Two cups lima beans, three-fourths pound raw sausage, one large green pepper, two teaspoons salt, four tablespoons maple syrup or light brown sugar, two no. 1 cans of condensed tomato soup.
Soak beans overnight in cold water. Drain, cover with water, and simmer until beans are tender. Use a pinch of baking soda while simmering. It takes about an hour and a half for large limas. Put beans and other things in casserole by layers: beans, cut-up sausage, chopped green peppers, and salt. Then add syrup or sugar and warmed tomato soup. Stir all together and bake about six hours at 300 degrees.
