Thursday, October 29, 2009

Here we go

BBQ ribs that will make you wanna slap your mama (but you won't cause we don't slap our mamas)

I have an ingredient list, but I don't have a specific recipe. Just make sure you make it good.


About 3 hours before you want to eat, start your sauce.
About 2 hours before this, call some friends you haven't seen for awhile and invite them over.

the sauce
tomato paste
water
apple juice (more juice than water)
apple cider vinegar (not too much, but you want the sauce to have a little bite)
brown sugar (between 1/2 C and a C)
mustard powder (lots of good shakes, or just use a little mustard)
a few drops of liquid smoke
a few drops of sesame seed oil
a few shakes of Worcestershire and soy sauces
about 1/2 C veggie oil
add some heat, I like cayenne and/or Tabasco
garlic and onion powder (but not too much, cause you want it to be a tangy sweetish sauce)
a bay leaf (you take this out at the end before you pour it over the ribs)

the rub
lots of salt and paprika (you want it almost pink looking)
black pepper
garlic and onion powder (less than the salt, more than the pepper)
thyme (less than the garlic powder)
celery seed (about the same as the thyme)

Rub the ribs let 'em sit for awhile. I like country style beef ribs, but you can use this same recipe for a rack on the grill.

Do the dishes and dance around the kitchen while listening to the Allman Brothers.

Make sure your cast iron skillet is clean of cornbread crumbs from the last time you made some of that and pour just enough oil in to coat the bottom so the ribs don't stick.

Sear those meaty guys and throw them in a roasting pan.

Occasionally yell at the kids who won't stay out of the kitchen.

When you finish all the ribs, let 'em sit in the roasting pan for about 10 minutes to let the flavors get all happy together.

Then pour the sauce over the ribs and bake them for 15 minutes at 425. Turn the heat down and bake for an hour more.

Make some homemade rolls, or go get some nice soft ones from Hyvee (Kroger for y'all in the South).

Do some delicious sides like potato salad and greenbean casserole.

Make sure you have some apple crisp for dessert and apple cider going on the counter in a crockpot (for extra good cider, slice up some ginger root and slice the rind of an orange and toss them both in)

Enjoy!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

When Jesus went to minister to the Irish

We went to Pickles' good friend, Chan's baptism yesterday. It was beautiful. There were sweet talks by the Grandma and the boys' previous Primary teacher. The littlest brother and I said a prayer. After the baptism, as Chan and his dad were changing clothes and drying off, we watched a video about Jesus. In the video you see Jesus acting out scenes from the New Testament. He gathers his flock, he blesses children, he heals people wearing rags. At one point, Pickles leans over and asks, "Are those the leprechauns he's helping?"

No baby, no. They're lepers.

Have you ever had to explain the difference between leprechauns and lepers?

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Sup witchoo?

1. I'm sorry baby, I know I haven't been pulling my own weight lately. I've been selfishly taking comments without giving any to you. I'll be better, I promise. I have been reading all your blog posts though, and they're wonderful.

2. OK, go here for truly useless inventions. I especially like the fake breasts and the baby cage. Oh, and I can't decide whether I like the mechanical cat or the kitty footy dusters better.

3. I did well in some of my classes. And not so great in others. This school session was terrible, and that's all that needs to be said about that.

4. I'm reading Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own. It's beautiful. When I'm done, I'm going to read it all over again. I never do that with books. I can't even listen to a CD twice in a row.

5. I've been painting lately. I meditate when I paint. It's my therapy. What's your therapy?

6. I got the Hamster out of the car tonight. He said "Thanks, buttocks!" So I popped his. I was shocked. He told me he didn't like spanks, so I told him I didn't like little boys who said rude things to their mommies.

7. Carrot, no, I'm not mean. Although my sisters may disagree.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

just a quickie

Weird News Wednesday

you know those slashes in web addresses? look up above if you don't know what I'm talking about. Well, they weren't meant to be there. They're useless, apparently.

It may be just a time-traveling conspiracy, but some scientists think that some inventions, specifically the Hadron Collider, may be sabotaged by other scientists from the future. What? It could happen!

And now for something completely different. Very, very weird landscapes.

That's all folks!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

I woke up Monday morning at 5Am to a tiny voice frantically telling me they had a nose bleed. My kids don't get nose bleeds. I activated the ejection button on my side of the bed at lightning speed so as not to wake the angry monster (with two finals to take that day) I was sleeping next to. I had already had my beauty sleep interrupted once that evening by wet jammie bottoms and a crying the Hamster, so I wasn't looking too pretty.

But bleeding 6-yr olds don't care how you look so I stumbled into the bathroom that was fast becoming a crime scene. Man! I was glad we had moved into a house with no carpet. Bud was crying, and I was trying desperately trying to remember what you do for a nosebleed and trying not to step on the blood.

Stuff the nostrils with something absorbent? Irrigate his face? My extensive medical training (yeah, right!) had escaped me, and my ability to think straight was directly proportional to my lack of sleep.

"Bud, it's OK. Sometimes noses just bleed. Did you bump your face on your brother's head? Did you fall out of bed onto your face? Did you put something in your nose? It's ok to lose a little blood."

MOM! This is NOT a little bit of blood. This is a lot. It's everywhere!"

"Dude, if you cut your arm off, THAT would be a lot of blood. See? It's not that bad, is it?"

"Oh, ok."

Oh yeah, tilt the head back! I got it. Sit the bloody boy on the potty and tilt his head back and pinch the bridge of his nose. I found out the next day that you tilt the head forward and pinch so blood doesn't go down the back of the throat. Anyway, we got it cleaned up and Bud was bathed and put back to bed until I realized that it was 6AM and my little day-flamingos (the opposite of night-owls around here) were bright and shiny and ready for the day to start.

The angry monster was even angrier at that point. Being woken up the alarm is bad enough, but being woken up by crying children 30 minutes before the alarm is even worse. But I yelled patiently explained that cleaning up bums and blood in the middle of the night isn't fun either. And that I had finals as well. And final projects due. And a landlord who hasn't given us back our deposit from 2 months ago yet who I'm going to have to take to small claims court.

But that's another post for another day...

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Bragging rights and long nights

Sassafras reads 174 words a minute. She's also in the gifted program. The kid is also in 90% for her height, which is pretty cool since I'm only 5'4".

Pickles reads 229. He's not in the gifted program because he decided he didn't like all the extra work.

Bud reads at at an end-of-second grade level. He's the baby of his first grade class with his August birthday. He finishes his work before everyone else and then causes trouble. Sound familiar, Mom?

He has also stayed on "green" for the last three weeks straight. If you have ever met the little guy, you realize that this is quite out of character for him. Also, we're bribing him.

the Hamster writes his name, but thinks his middle name is first name spelled backwards. He can sing the alphabet backwards, and this may be entirely my fault.

I'm thinking the Hamster may be ambidextrous like I am. I actually prayed to have a kid who could write with both hands or be left-handed. Frivolous, I know, but I like them to be a little different. He also has dimples, which I prayed for as well.

Sass made higher than 95% on portions of her ITBS and was invited to take the BESTS test. Anyone know anything about that? I can't decide if it's actually worth doing or not.

James started working in the clinic this school session and has completed the patient requirements while taking care of the kids each evening while I'm in class (every dang night), after his own full 30 credit hour class load for the day. Next session, he needs to see at least 25 patients. He also makes sure to bathe and feed the kids each night AND takes care of all the laundry and dishes. And he's blind. He's a pretty cool guy, if I do say so myself.

I'm nearly finished with a painting that I really like. I'm also incredibly glad that this school session is nearly over, because it is killing me slowly. Which is why I haven't blogged much. I've been working on not drowning and there hasn't been much left over for anything else. So if you're wondering why I haven't been to church functions, a meeting, called you, sent a letter, sent an email, stopped by, sent a carrier pigeon, telepathic message, or smoke signal, put my kids in sports, scouts, or music lessons, or anything else, that's why.

It's not you, it's me.

It is good to know though, that James can pick up my slack and the kids can actually thrive without me being on top of everything.

Hopefully soon, I can blog about some political things, about my amazing visit from 13 people I love dearly, as well as separate visits from James' dad and my mom (all the love!), and how I blinked and missed our Midwestern Fall. After these messages, we'll be riiiiiiiight back!