Assist with a meal needing barbecue sauce, baked beans

Good morning, fare companions. At the moment of this writing, I am sitting beside someone who wants your help in making homemade barbecue sauce, “thin vinegarstyle and otherwise,” and excellent baked beans. Jane Henegar To complete the barbecue menu, “please share the best banana pudding ever, according to at least a few aficionados.”

FAMILY FAVORITE

When you read the next recipe and the history that surrounds it, you just may get to wondering where your recipes might travel in the decades ahead.

Cheryl Brown’s chocolate sauce is “a fivegeneration original recipe created by my greatgrandmother, Ancy, who owned a restaurant in our small Minnesota farming community. Today my grandchildren all have the recipe and use it frequently. It has five ingredients only and easy-to-remember measurements and makes a perfect chocolate sauce over warm brownies and vanilla bean ice cream.”

Hot Chocolate Sauce

¼ cup butter

¼ cup cocoa

¼ cup milk

1 cup sugar

Vanilla extract, to taste

Melt butter in saucepan, add milk and cocoa, and then stir in sugar. Bring to a slow boil, and boil for 1 minute. Add vanilla extract. Serve hot.

OATY PLEASURE

We’re still wandering through kitchens on Memory Lane. “Do you remember this one?” asked Mary Ann McInturff.

Indeed we do. And oatmeal muffins and cookies … but not overnight oats. They are relatively new on the scene.

Oatmeal Cake

1 1/4 cups boiling water

1 stick butter

1 cup quick oats

2 beaten eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/3 cups flour

Mix together boiling water, butter and oats. Let stand 20 minutes, then add eggs. Add sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour.

Grease a 9- by 13- by 2-inch baking dish. Spread batter in pan, and bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

Topping:

1/2 stick butter

1/4 cup milk

1 cup brown sugar

1 can coconut

1 cup chopped pecans

Melt together butter, milk and brown sugar. Add coconut and chopped pecans.

Spread on top. Place under broiler to toast lightly. Watch carefully.

EDIBLE ARTS

Along with flowery artistry, Joe Jumper at The Clay Pot is an artist in flour and other edible arts as well. Here’s one he has recently reprinted, from his cookbook. He said, “I’d forgotten how good these are.” Furthermore, “They make great leftovers.”

Chilies and Chicken Cups

1 cup cooked diced chicken

6 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 small can diced green chilies

¼ cup chopped ripe olives

6 ounces shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated flaky biscuits

Mix chicken, cream cheese, chilies, olives and Cheddar. Separate flaky biscuits, and press in bottom and up sides of greased muffin cup, forming ¼-inch rim. Spoon chicken mixture into each biscuit-lined cup.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

BAKERY SPECIALTY

Mary Coffey visited Maman bakery on a recent visit in Washington, D.C. “I had heard of this cake, which is wonderful for breakfast, and found it in the Maman cookbook sold by the bakery. The authors are Elisa Marshall and Benjamin Sormonte. What I am wondering is whether a regular orange will work as well, or almost as well, as a blood orange.”

Olive Oil and Blood Orange Loaf

This recipe combines the rich, fruity flavors of blood oranges with the smoothness of extra-virgin olive oil, resulting in a perfectly moist and delicious loaf. The addition of an orange-flavored liqueur gives it an extra citrus kick that will send your taste buds on a journey. This loaf is easy to make and perfect for any occasion. Once baked, it’s garnished with fresh blood orange slices and a dusting of confectioners sugar, making it as beautiful as it is tasty.

Vegetable oil spray and flour for the pan

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 blood oranges

1 ¼ cups extra-virgin olive oil

1 ¼ cups whole milk

3 large eggs

1/4 cup orange-flavored liqueur, such as Grand Marnier

Confectioners sugar for garnish

Set a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 350 degrees. Coat a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan with vegetable oil spray, and dust with flour. Set a wire rack inside a sheet pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Set aside 1 orange for garnish. Grate the zest of 1 of the remaining oranges, then juice both oranges and strain the liquid to remove any pulp. Measure out 1/4 cup of the orange juice, and reserve any extra for another use.

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the orange zest and juice with the olive oil, milk, eggs and liqueur, and whip until just combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, and mix on low, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until fully incorporated, about 3 minutes total.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Set the loaf pan on the wire rack, and let cool for about 20 minutes, then invert the loaf onto the rack. Flip it again so the loaf is right side up, and let cool slightly. Dust with confectioners sugar, then cut the reserved orange into thin slices and arrange on top of the loaf, and serve.

Store the loaf in the refrigerator tightly wrapped in plastic wrap for up to three days.

I always wonder about these three-day proscriptions, when it seems to me that almost anything can thrive in a refrigerator for at least a week. Would you like to argue with me? If so, please produce your strong reasons, and help us all learn more.

And come back next week, you hear?