- To make Bean Hole Beans, a method devised by Native Americans, particularly the Penobscot, put beans, maple syrup, water, and chunks of fatty meat, into a covered pot, place it in a hole lined with hot rocks, and wait.
- The B in B&M Beans stands for George Burnham and the M stands for Charles S. Morrill. They founded the company in Portland in 1867.
- Maine churches began hosting bean suppers in the late 1800s when tax dollars funneled to them began to dry up after the Civil War.
- Brunswick’s First Parish Church was known for the steamed brown bread served at its bean suppers in the 1970s and 80s.
- Yellow eye beans are the most popular variety served at church suppers because of their clean, mild taste.
- Plant breeder Elwyn Meader fashioned a bean that baked well but required a short growing season. Now sold by Fedco Seeds, its descendants are called Saturday Nite Specials, given that bean suppers were on Saturdays and the legumes can have explosive aftereffects.
- Adding kelp to a pot of simmering beans mitigates those aftereffects.
- Fairwinds Farm in Bowdoinham sells dried bean gift boxes.
- Beans have less calories, cholesterol and fat but more complex carbs and fiber than steak.
- Beans are nitrogen fixers, so farming them reduces agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions.
A Good Shucking Time
Sponsored Content
