gary's favorite ribs...so far

I didn't want to post a new recipe right on top of another recipe post, but these ribs go great with Carole's macaroni salad. :)

Gary is always on the search for good rib recipes. He's tried quite a few and just hasn't been happy with them. Only one was good enough to make more than once and that was Alton Brown's ribs. The ribs were good, but didn't have much of a sauce. So Gary searched and searched again until he found Emerile's recipe. He's made it twice in less than a month. His mom has added the recipe to her kitchen and I think his sister has too. It's lip-smackin', finger-lickin' good stuff...and I don't normally eat ribs because I'm not fond of meat on a bone (insert your favorite crude joke here).

Needless to say, I don't think Gary will be searching for a new rib recipe any time soon. That's not to say he'll stop trying new recipes altogether though...he'll always need to do some rib sampling.

GARY’S FAVORITE RIBS…SO FAR


2 racks baby back pork ribs, about 4 pounds, each cut in half
2 TBSP Emerile’s Essence (see below)
1 – 12 oz bottle of dark brown ale (we used Budweiser’s American Ale)
4 cups ketchup
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
½ cup molasses
½ cup dry red wine
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
2 TBSP spicy whole-grain mustard
2 TBSP dark brown sugar
1 TBSP minced garlic
1 TBSP minced jalapeno peppers
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp hot pepper sauce
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne


DIRECTIONS
Rub the ribs on both sides with the Essence rib rub. Place in a large sealable bag or on a large sheet of aluminum foil placed in a large roasting pan. Cover with the beer and seal. Marinate in the refrigerator 8 hours or overnight.

• Remove the ribs from the bag and bring to room temperature.


• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.


• Line a large baking sheet with heavy aluminum foil, lay the ribs on top, and tightly cover with foil. Roast for 2 hours.


• Preheat the grill.

Meanwhile, to make the sauce, combine ketchup, onions, molasses, red wine, lemon juice, mustard, brown sugar, garlic, jalapenos, Worcestershire, hot pepper sauce, salt and cayenne in a large mixing bowl.

Stir to mix well. Use immediately, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Remove the ribs from the oven and uncover.

Transfer to the hot grill, cover, and cook over indirect heat for 30 minutes. Brush the ribs with the sauce, and baste and turn every 10 minutes, for an additional 30 minutes.


Remove the ribs from the grill and EAT. Serve with additional sauce on the side and plenty of napkins.


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ESSENCE (Emeril’s Creole Seasoning)

2-1/2 TBSP paprika
2 TBSP salt
2 TBSP garlic powder
1 TBSP black pepper
1 TBSP onion powder
1 TBSP cayenne pepper
1 TBSP dried leaf oregano
1 TBSP dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
_________________________________________________


Thanks Emerile! Like he's gonna read this to know that I thanked him for the recipe. Hahaha!

carole’s macaroni salad

Summer is hot and humid. That means lots of cooking on the grill and less cooking inside. This summer dish, from my wonderful m-i-l Carole, is one of my favorites. It's a classic that's cool and tasty!

CAROLE’S MACARONI SALAD


8 oz macaroni noodles, cooked and drained
4 hardboiled eggs, diced
½ cup sweet relish
3 celery stalks, diced
2-3 green onions, sliced (to your desired taste-I used 3), plus a little extra for garnish, if desired (I happen to like onions and picked them fresh from my garden)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, optional (I didn’t use)

2 cups Hellman’s mayo
1/8 cup mustard
1/8 cup sugar
1 TBSP vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)


DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, mix together: macaroni, diced eggs, sweet relish, diced celery, and sliced green onions. In a smaller bowl, mix together: mayo, mustard, sugar and vinegar. Then, combine the sauce with the macaroni mixture. That’s it! It can be served immediately, but it’s even better if it refrigerated overnight.

Tastes especially good with G's favorite ribs...recipe coming soon!

it's that time again

I can't believe school starts in less than 2 weeks! Summer break seems to have come and gone in just a blink of an eye.

We have most of Michael's school supplies purchased. I gave him a haircut, which was quite a joy for both of us - NOT (remember this post??). And as soon as he'll hold still and cooperate, I'll go through his clothes to see what still fits him, what doesn't and what he needs. By the way, Emily, I think we'll have some more clothes for Jared coming your way!

So I think we're pretty much set for the start of school...just waiting for the onslaught of paperwork that'll be coming soon! Hey, does anyone have a good filing system for keeping track of school stuff? How do you handle all of the kids' work and art projects - if you save their stuff, what do you save (everything, some things) and how/where do you save it?

Anyway, we're just trying to eek out the last little bit of summer break by chillin'...nothing scheduled on the calendar, just trying to relax and enjoy. And if Michael wants me to walk him from his pool on the deck to his rockpit out in the yard and back to his little pool for the 7th time in one day, then that's exactly what we're gonna do!

charlotte's web

I think spider webs are cool. They are impressive little architectural wonders.

I wonder how long it took Charlotte to make this one.

They look especially neat when they have a little bit of morning dew on them (or when they are misted by a Mickey Mouse spray bottle) to magnify their works of art.

Although I can appreciate their home building skills, I don't like spiders.

Charlotte here? She gives me the creepy shivers....and is very lucky she's outside. If I found her in my house, she would be given a grizzly death. The end.

feeling so sad and blue

Because of the power of the internet, I have been able to reconnect with some of my long lost high school pals (thank you Facebook). Many, if not most, I haven't seen or talked to since high school some 20-something years ago. One of my friends, Sarah, has a blog that I read to see what she's been up to...nothing unusual there, as I have this little ole blog for friends to do the same thing. Anyway, Sarah and her husband Matt have a little boy named Ben who was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma at age 2-1/2...and just 6 weeks before she gave before she gave birth to her 2nd child, daughter Madeline. Neuroblastoma is a very aggressive form of childhood cancer. Ben fought this cancer for a little more than 1-1/2 years with every drug, chemo cocktail, radiation treatment available before being declared "NED" - No Evidence of Disease.

Fast forward to July 8th and it's been 4 years that Ben has been "NED". However, during his 6-month routine scan they found a mass in Ben’s chest behind his heart and he needed a biopsy, which the doctor did the next evening. Three agonizing days later, the pathology results confirmed a recurrence of this awful disease.

I made a donation to the "Ben Brewer Fight Neuroblastoma Fund" page, which sends the funds directly to their family. The website includes photos, their story, and information about Neuroblastoma. I hope that many will donate... you can use PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, AmEx & Discover. Please open your hearts to this wonderful family! You can read more about Ben and his family (Sarah, Matt, and Madeline) here and here. Happy, hopeful thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated too.

fiesta black bean salad

Last month, my mom hosted a cookout to gather all of our family together to visit with Keni, Josh, and Gabby when they came in from Seattle. I wanted to make a unique, light and flavorful side dish and thought of this yummy treat I had last summer. Turns out, two of our aunts were thinking the same thing and we ended up with THREE side dishes containing beans. Great minds and all. :)

This recipe makes a TON and even though I halved it for our family cookout, it still made a lot.


FIESTA BLACK BEAN SALAD

INGREDIENTS:

4 - 15 oz cans of black beans
30 oz edamame
2 - 16 oz bages frozen corn
1 each red and green peppers
½ white onion
6 large fresh tomatoes
2 TBSP olive oil
garlic salt
cayenne pepper
½ bunch fresh cilantro



DIRECTIONS:
Chop red and green peppers, onion and cilantro. Combine all ingredients and flavor with garlic salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Refrigerate 2 or more hours for best flavor (overnight is even better).


Serve as a salad or as a homemade salsa (like we did) with tortillas chips and Fritos (mmmm). Good stuff…and good FOR you! :)



Recipe from the awesome ladies at St. John’s GRACE event.

we are fam-i-ly...

...I got all my sisters and me. Or at least my one and only sister. She was here. My sister. All the way from Seattle, WA (Gig Harbor, actually). And she came with her husband, Josh, and daughter, Gabriella (aka: Gabby, Gabs, little princess).

Their visit was different this time in a few ways: Josh had an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament while he was here; their visit was almost 2 weeks, a rarity; they mostly stayed at our mom's house (Kita's was an easier home base, but the best part for them is that Gabby had her OWN room to sleep in!!); and the biggest difference about this trip was that they did not have to "schedulize" every minute of every day of their visit...you know how that is... that need to see everyone and do everything in a week or less (fun, but very stressful at times). I'm not sure if this visit was more relaxing or not...I don't think I asked, but I think more play time was involved this time around.


We still did our normal things: getting Capuano's pizza (YUM!), as well as the customary shopping trip to Eddie Bauer's Warehouse store...where they get to Eddie's so early, they have to wait in line...and she picks things out for me and I show up later just in time to try things on, pay and leave (I know I'm weird, but I don't really like shopping). I really, really value her input when picking out and trying on clothes with her...we only want the most flattering and fabulous finds for each other!! I wish we could do all of our clothes shopping together!


My mom, aka: Kita, hosted a fabulous BBQ so that all of our extended family can gather and visit with Keni, Josh and Gabby. It was a great Sunday afternoon!

Keni, Momma Kita, and myself.



Fab cousin Mallory and Keni with me.

Cousin Tyler (the new grad), Aunt Suzi Z., Blare and Mallory.


That's my brother-in-law Josh strikin' a pose for me. Funny guy!

Mallory and her fiance Blare - they are too cute...aaahh young love!



Gabby twirling and chasing some bubbles. The rest of the pics I have are of her chasing and trying to EAT the bubbles. Silly girl!

We (K, J, G as well as Gary, Michael and I) had another cookout with our Uncle Rick, Aunt Suzi R. and cousin Brannon at their house...where Gabby saw her first firefly/lightning bug.

I thought it was strange, but they don't have fireflies in Seattle. Michael enjoyed playing with the rocks in their driveway and watching golf on tv...surprise, surprise - NOT!

We also did an exciting visiting to Suzi's office at the Columbus Zoo where we got to pet baby zoo animals. Although, Michael was much more excited to see Grandma Kita than the animals. Hee, hee! Us adults got to go inside a caged area to play with 7 month old cheetahs and 7 month old dogs that were raised with the cheetahs (I forget what kind of dog, I wanna say it starts with an A??). Anyway, it was very, very cool. Remember the baby cheetahs that Carole, Michael and I held back in November?? These are the same cheetahs and my, have they grown!

We took turns going in the cage because the kids weren't allowed in...they said that the kids are starting to look like SNACKS to the cheetahs!

Keni, Josh and Kita are petting one of the cheetahs, while two of Suzi's staff educate us and keep an eye out for the other cheetah because they like to pounce (the guy walked in front of Kita as I was taking the pic - boo).

The dogs wanted in on the attention I had been giving to the cheetah. Then the cheetahs really started to get playful....

After the tour (and the love bite Keni got on her bum from one of the cheetahs), we met Suzi on zoo grounds where she was doing a live news feed for 10tv. Suzi made sure Gabby and Michael were in the background (next to Patrick Starfish, from Sponge Bob) while the tv crew was filming and Gabby had on her sparkly pink Dora sunglasses (so cute!).

After the news was over, Suzi gave us all passes to Zoombezi Bay, the cool new water park at the zoo. Brannon went with us too...which Gabby really liked. We loved having Brannon show us around and hanging with us too. :) Michael liked floating around the creek until we went under a waterfall of ice cold water and then he was all done. We also did the wave pool which he enjoyed as well. I think we could've stayed longer (in fact, Gabby "pretty pleased" Kita into just the two of them staying longer!), but that had been a long day for Michael and we were all getting tired.

On K, J and G's last day, Michael and I drove to Kita's for a quickie lunch of White Castle's (mmmm, Whitey's...they don't have those in Seattle either) and to visit with them one last time while they packed for the trip home.

G-ma Kita with her favorite grandchildren....Michael and Gabby.

Michael and HIS G-ma Kita...I think he might have been getting a little jealous...maybe???

Sigh. Good times. We miss them already.

PS: Hey Gabby, I'm going on a picnic and I'm going to bring some bananas....what are you going to bring?!?! Are you still bringing the FROGS?!?!