Monday, January 26, 2009

Oven-Barbecued Ribs

This is from the November issue of BHG. I am trying to purge old magazines and cook some of the recipes I find interesting. This is not traditional barbecue but it was not labor intensive, the flavors sounded good, and I love ribs, so gave it a try. They also included a salad recipe which is simple and tasty. I threw in the Brussel Sprouts thinking the bitter flavor would be good with the two sweet flavors of the ribs and salad and maybe make you know who hate them less. Unfortunately, these were more bitter than most so reinforced the afore mentioned hatred.

Oven-Barbecued Ribs
Prep: 30min Bake: 1hour 40 min Oven: 350
2 racks pork loin back (baby back)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. Chinese five-spice powder
1tsp. ground ginger
1/4 cup Dijon-style mustard
1/2 cup hoison sauce
2 Tbsp. molasses
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Cut ribs into serving-size peices. In a small bowl combine brown sugar, garlic powder, ground black pepper, Chinese five-spice powder, ginger, and salt.
  2. Brush meaty sides of ribs with mustard. Sprinkle generously with spice mixture. Place ribs, bone sides down, in a large shallow roasting pan. Bake, covered, in for 1 hour. Carefully drain off fat.
  3. In a small bowl stir together hoisin sauce, molasses, soysauce, and rice vinegar. Spoon mixture evenly over ribs. Bake, uncovered, for 40 to 60 minutes more or until rivs are tender. Serve with Asian Slaw. Makes 6 servings.
Asian Slaw
In a large bowl combine 4 cups finely shredded bok choy (I used Napa cabbage variety) and 1 cup shredded carrot. Drizzle with a misture of 1/4cup sasoned rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp. cooking oil, and 1-2 teaspoons sugar. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Made with lots of love for me!

Have I said lately how much in awe of my darling girl I am? She amazes me everyday. The only thing that surpasses her cleverness is her kindness. She got together with Jennifer and made my labels which I love probably beyond reason. Then as if that wasn't enough, she embroidered and embellished this organizer around the logo she designed. I wish I could have watched her do this, watching her is as fun as seeing the end result. Intense much? I would have made her coffee and cinnamon bread and watched her go to town! This doesn't do the nest justice. Hopefully you get the idea.
Layers of felt and little embroidered birdie feet.

Look close at the wings. Oh my word, what patience!

My dear husband suggested that since I spend more time at work than at home, that I hang it by my desk. I think I will. It's a good suggestion even though I think there was a not so hidden statement in there somewhere.

I love you Jessica!




Thursday, January 22, 2009

Isn't it lovely?

This was my gift from my dear husband. He was so good at picking up on all my hints..... Hey Babe! I want this. I want it now.
I seriously wish I'd had this version when the kids were growing up. Of course making bread was a work out back then. Now I need to Wii while eating a slice.... The power on this thing is amazing. It kneaded that dough like it was nothin. I need to figure out if I can triple this recipe. Six loaves would be just about right.
Because when they come out of the oven it is hard to wait for them to cool enough to eat.

And when that happens, it quickly disappears.

Then the next morning you ask yourself, did we really eat all that?

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Melancholy

It was a wonderful holiday but it's over and the house is quiet. Normal life must begin again. I am lucky, I have a great normal life to get back to. The problem is, I have people that are worth missing, a lot, and I do. Vacations always make me think of those people even more. I'm not just talking about my darling girl and uber who didn't get to make it, this is for all of you out there who may forget or not even know that I think of you daily. So, until we can be together again, remember that I love you all!

In the meantime, I'll just keep making hats....
BTW I have a new button there to the left. Read about it if you havn't already. If it doesn't stop, life as we know it will change.....

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Day seven, White Ring Race, last full day, fun is done

Bright and early this morning we were out in the cold watching for the first person to cross the finish line. The racers start a 9:00 and 45 minutes later they have completed 22km, a circut that takes me a couple of hours to do! It's the White Ring Race. I wish you could have seen the crashes, seriously, they were funny but not. You have to respect a person that can loose a ski and finish the race anyway.... That picture I missed......
Our oldest and I at the end of the day. We are at a place called the BalmAlp. It used to be a cool place. Now it is a place where "cool" people hang out!!! Ha Ha
I have given myself an award this week for most improved skier. I am full of myself for being able to ski with the boys as much as I did. Proud, happy and tired. Really tired.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Lech day 6, or are you tired of this yet?

The view out my window this morning. The three dots on the run are the guys. I'm zoomed in too....
Instead of skiing today, I went up to the highest peak here.


Brinkley really loves the snow. He will dive into it face first.



Thursday, January 15, 2009

Lech days four and five

Yesterday I did some skiing. Then I did some sitting and watching for the boys to come around over the mountian a couple of times. It is fun how easy it is to pick them out of a crowd. There are no pictures because visibility was bad. We were skiing blind most of the time. They think it is more fun than I do.... This was taken in the morning. Very strange light. Lech in the evening.



Lech at night courtesy of my DH on his night walk with Brinkley.


Today it was very foggy in the valley. When you got halfway up the mountian all you could see was clouds below with this hazy light. I didn't get pictures until later. The clouds are distant by this time. The light is still funky though.



Always looking for something crafty. The boys call them spoon pockets. They will be getting some as gifts......


Here is a picture of the house we stay in. Right now we are on the second floor on the left. We were downstairs until last night.


BTW, yes, two days ago it was warm enough to sit outside in a tank top. Not today.





Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Day three

Not much has changed, we are still having fun. The sun was even warmer today. I was never able to fall completely asleep though, because the boys keep me laughing.
I did have a spill yesterday at the end of the day of course. Today was a bit painful but I did it anyway. My skiing has improved greatly!! I'm proud!





Monday, January 12, 2009

Sunday, January 11, 2009

We have arrived

We had a nice uneventful drive to one of our favorite spots this afternoon. Our friend K took this for us. We put our skis in to be waxed then stopped at the Tannenhof before going back to the guesthouse for my chili. For those of you who have been here, everything is still beautiful. For those who have never been, you can come here, if you promise to behave. Lech. For me it translates as beautiful. Let's see if I can get up early and ski. Sometimes I forget how.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Scarflette deux

Sorry for the blurry picture. A whole house of cameras and not a single good picture of me.... Be nice about the hair and, well everything. We are getting ready to go on our annual ski holiday. This means I have been very busy today. Busy playing Wii and finishing this project. I cooked chili too... The first Catherine wheel project is still unfinished. It wants to be a scarf too, I just started with such small yarn. Oh well. Speaking of Wii. My son gave me his for Xmas. Then my darling girl teamed up with him and a friend to get me Wii Fit! I love this thing. K was flying in for our ski trip and got the last one at the airport. My 47th birthday will go down as one of the most unexpectedly fantastically gifted b-days I have had. I think I could be better at the Wii if I could just stop laughing.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

It runs in the family

She makes hats too. She knits, I crochet so we pretty much have it covered. I love this hat, I could wear it all the time. Alpaca, yum. Thanks Sis!




Tuesday, January 6, 2009

How fortunate am I?

I feel more special than I think I deserve. I was given birthday presents and they are awesome. Kelly shares my love of writing utensils. We have gone back and forth finding each other silly pens and such. She went a bit beyond this time and I now have this gorgeous pen. It comes with papers....It's a pen with a pedigree. I love it. The next item is from Jennifer and Jessica. The fact that they got together on this one is so special. Jennifer is the tag genius. She has tags for everything she makes and they are perfect. I have always wanted tags. I have tried to make tags. I have looked at ordering tags. I found it all a bit overwhelming. I wanted someone to do it for me. Now they have. Jessica came up with my logo. She new exactly what I wanted and I didn't even tell her. Jennifer knew what I wanted to say and did the ordering. Just so you know, these are not printed tags, these are embroidered tags. I'm gonna put tags on everything!

Just a few of my hats with their new tags. I like them so much I made it so they show. If you don't like it this way don't tell me because I don't care.
Thanks you guys.