Well, yes, you could just open a can. But homemade baked beans offer much, much more than even the best Jay Bush can trot out. They offer a connection to the past.

One of my favorite food writers, Della Lutes, opens her 1935 classic “The Country Kitchen” with an accounting of her father’s birthday feast in 1882: “A great pan of beans was baked, nice, white Michigan (or New York State) beans, soaked overnight, parboiled in the early morning with a pinch of soda, then washed in cold water and boiled again with a slab of salt pork and an onion, until the outer skin burst. They were then drained and seasoned with salt, pepper, mustard, a little vinegar and brown sugar, turned into a heavy tin pan, with the pork, slashed across the rind into small squares, adorning the centre, and baked until the beans were brought to a mealy consistency suitable for slicing when cold.”

That’s the way they made baked beans in my natal Jackson County, Mich., more than a century ago. Here’s the way I make them in my kitchen today.

MICHIGAN BAKED BEANS

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Soaking time: Overnight

Cooking time: 3 hours

Yield: 4-6 servings

1 pound dried navy beans, rinsed

½ pound salt pork, in one piece

1 large onion, stuck with two cloves

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons coarse brown mustard, such as Zatarain’s Creole

¼ cup cider vinegar

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

1. Place the beans in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water by a depth of 2 inches; soak at room temperature overnight. Drain; rinse. Drain; return the beans to the pan. Cover with cold water to a depth of 2 inches.

2. Add the salt pork, onion and baking soda to the beans. Cook over medium heat until the skins on the beans burst when you blow gently on one, about 1 hour. Drain the beans. Discard the onion; reserve the salt pork. (Reserve the broth if you like as a soup base.)

3. Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Place the beans in a large heavy casserole with a close-fitting lid. Combine mustard, vinegar and brown sugar; blend into beans. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cross-hatch the rind of the salt pork by making ¼-inch deep slashes in two directions. Nestle the salt pork in the casserole. Cover; cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are very tender, 2-3 hours.