WHIRLWIND

Holy Moly have I been busy lately!!! I've knocked quite a few things off my list, but new ones keep cropping up. I haven't had a chance to take any pictures in the chaos, but here's the latest:

We have a painted nursery with a perfect cherry blossom tree on the light green walls, and a beautiful pink dresser that is just perfect.

The doors are attached to the entertainment center, and just need a little paint touch up, but they're finally on and looking pretty decent.

On the down side, my 1999 Nissan Altima blew a head gasket. The shop wanted way more than we were willing to pay to fix it, so I'm attempting the job on my own for a fraction of the price. It has been a bit of a struggle, but I've just about got the head off, and am really looking forward to getting the beast running again so that I can focus on more enjoyable tasks.... I just hope I can put all the hoses and wires back where they came from!!!

Its been a bit crazy, but I'm feeling good and keeping busy, so I really can't complain....

AZUKI YA!

I've been slacking on my blog lately, so.... I just want to say that Japanese bakeries are incredible and that everyone should try going to one.

Their white bread is unlike any white bread I've had. It is yeasty, dense and chewy, but still incredibly fluffy. I used to think that white bread was a waste, but that is all changed now.

You also MUST buy some red bean buns ("Azuki Buns"). They are the most delicious little treat in the whole wide world, especially if you heat them up just a little bit. A red bean bun is basically a slightly sweet bun with a mixture of red beans, sugar, and mochi baked into the middle. They're just sweet enough to be dessert or breakfast, but not sweet enough to be overpowering. Lately, Azuki buns are all I can think about, and I'm pretty sure I'll be attempting to make them some time in the near future....

Oh yeah.... I'm not big on quotes, but I heard one that stuck with me yesterday....
"Ignorance can be cured, but stupidity is for life..."  
I'm not entirely sure why, but I think this is the best quote I've ever heard...

OUR LITTLE 6 POUNDS, 8 OUNCES OF JOY

The realization shocks and apalls me, but, until this past Saturday, I had never even tried to make legitimate ribs in my entire life. Wow. Well, that all changed when we invited my parents over for dinner. We knew we wanted to barbecue something, but when my wife came home from costco with a giant pack of the meatiest baby back ribs I've ever seen, I knew that our ribless little lives had just changed forever...

I chose a three part recipe... rub, mop, and sauce. The rub was mostly new mexico chile powder, salt, paprika, and granulated garlic. The mop was a mixture of melted butter, apple juice, cider vinegar, and barbecue sauce, and the barbecue sauce was made with ketchup, apple juice, vinegar, molasses, and a whole bunch of spices (mostly chile powder and gralic). The part of this whole process that I am most proud of is my improvised rib rack, made by attaching bolts covered in foil to the cooking grate on my weber.

Here are the ribs covered in rub:

And the Mop and Sauce:

Here is a picture of the ribs after smoking over hickory at about 200 degrees for one hour. You can see my sweet new rib rack, and if you look closely, you can see the coal setup... just 15 or so coals, set way off to one side, with a handful of wet woodchips (not scattered, but set down in a heap on top of the coals so that they smolder slowly)... I used two large handfuls throughout the cooking process.... 

And here are our finished little babies after 4 and a half hours in the barbecue.... sooo tasty.......

Here they are again, all cut up and ready for battle. Not a great picture, but you can kind of see the pink smoke ring on them if you look carefully....

These things came out really, really well... but, as always, I need to make a few changes next time:

1) Start the ribs first thing in the morning, and reheat them with the barbecue sauce over hot coals when its time to eat them. They were not at all tough, but they just weren't quite falling off the bone, and I would have liked to cook them longer, but it was time to eat....

2) I thought the ribs were burning because a few spots were looking black, but they were nowhere near overcooked.... A little black is totally fine, as long as it isn't looking like charcoal (especially at the bone tips)....

3) More spicy! The new mexico chile powder really has no kick, even though it was advertised as being between cayenne and paprika. No heat at all, which made me sad inside.

4) Try a milder wood like cherry or pecan. I liked the hickory, but it was much stronger the next day... not a bad thing, but I think a more subtle, slightly sweeter smoke flavor would be a little better...

5) Double the barbecue sauce recipe, and reduce half of it down so that it is thick and goopy. Use the normal, unreduced half to coat the ribs on the grill, and serve up the thickened half on the table for dipping and/or slathering.