A summertime staple at cookouts and the dinner table of my youth, Baked Beans represent warm weather and grilled eats.  How sad was I when I was told that I had an allergy to tomatoes and had to forgo one of my favorite side dishes?  Luckily, with a little research, I came across the difference between Southern style  and New England style beans.  Turns out folks up in Maine and their neighbor states find adding ketchup to beans is a crime akin to adding ketchup to a hotdog in Chicago.  Finally, something this South Side Irish girl had in common with Yankees out east, beans!
Traditional recipes call for a bean crock and hours of baking in the oven, which would hardly suit during the humid summers of Chi-Town.  Good thing my best friend the Crock Pot is always there to keep the heat down in the kitchen while still…