Crowd pleaser

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With the holidays here and partys being hosted, there will probably be a need to cook up something for a crowd. I have made this for family and friends and have had alot of requests for the recipe (GF, of course). Not only will it please your many guests, it will be a fabulous leftover for later, hot or cold...if there is any left over!

So here is my version of
Crowd Pleasing Meaty Baked Beans

-Get out the largest baking pan you own. Have enough cans of plain baked beans to fill it up about 1/2 full. You can eyeball this by laying the cans in the bottom of the pan before you open them.

-Take (at least) 90% ground beef and cook enough that will equal about half of the amount of beans in a really large pot.

-After the beef is cooked through and broken up into moderately small pieces, drain off the fat. Pour the beans in with the hot meat in the pot and set aside.

-Take slices of bacon and cut them in fourths. Cook them until they are well heated through but not crispy. Make enough to cover the top of the beans and meat mixture.

-Pour the bean mixture in the baking pan. Cover the top with the bacon pieces.

-Sprinkle brown sugar (I use light) over the top. The more sugar on top, the sweeter your beans will be and there will be more of a crusty top. You can omit or modify this to your taste or dietary needs.

-Bake at 350 degrees for at least an hour or until bubbly.

Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving, but the cooler it gets, the thicker it becomes. Yum!

You can add just about any kind of meat to this - chicken, pork, ham, leftover spare rib meat, or a mixture of all of them. Anything that you eat with baked beans will go great in it. If you want an interesting flavor to add, try a dash of liquid smoke to it when you mix the beans and meat together.

Got a crowd to please? Let me know if you try it!