4th of July

We took advantage of the nice weather on Independence Day to try another barbecue experiment.  This time I felt compelled to take care of my craving for ribs.  I bought a couple slabs of St. Louis style ribs, gave them a rub (paprika, chile, salt, pepper, a little sugar) and fired up the grill.  I put the ribs in my rib rack, sprinkled some wood chips on the coals and let them cook.  Occasionally, I gave them a basting with some mop (apple juice, apple cider vinegar, a bit of barbecue sauce, and so on).  It took about four hours to cook the ribs.  I finished them flat on the grill to crisp them up a bit.  Here is a picture of them at that stage.



 I served them with some corn on the cob and baby Yukon Gold potatoes that I boiled in a brine. Add some melted butter and barbecue sauce on the side and we had our meal. The ribs were messy (as is usually the case) but turned out well. They weren't fall off the bone tender, but they did come off the bone pretty easily. I think that Adam appreciated it that they weren't particularly sweet (I must admit that I like my sauce a bit sweeter). The smoke flavor was definitely present, but basically complemented the spice and sauce without overwhelming it. All in all, I would count it as a success.

The grill has brought me outside more than usual. The deck has seen more activity this summer than I think it has seen since we've moved in. It has made me more aware of the lack of attention we have paid to the plants surrounding the deck (okay, the house as a whole). I am just not much of a gardener. We have overgrown plants that were there when we moved in, a few plants that we have added, and some interlopers. It turns out that some visitors are more welcome than others. I have recently discovered that some raspberry bushes have moved in. They are pretty and delicious...a real bonus.



Before trying them I did a little of internet research and the consensus seemed to be that these aggregate berries are safe to eat. In addition to making me feel better about eating berries of unknown origin, I got to read a story about the problem of safeguarding your berry patch from hungry critters. Apparently, robins will form "gangs" to assault a berry patch. I just love the idea of robins forming gangs.

But they better stay away from my raspberries.