From the Kitchen

Lots of extra time for cooking these days with the main school work being done...
A few of our recent hits:

pizza dough by Crockett

rhubarb crisp (yet to be baked) by the girls, 

one of whom was nowhere to be found for picture time

pasta primavera by mama

yellow rice, black beans, and chorizo by the same.

I skipped the jalapenos on this (for the sake of les petits)
and it definitely lacked something - but it looks pretty!

I'm hoping that my children remember we ate relatively well in the evenings because our lunches are plenty full of mac 'n' cheese, egg salad, and pizza rolls. 

Spring Recipes...

...when there is no spring!

Still raining here. Our grill sits unused.

We've got a few favorite meals lately that have been true crowd pleasers with my entire gang. (I don't have picky eaters - thank goodness - but certain dishes become favorites faster than others).

Tonight I'm doing Cooking Light's Kung Pao Chicken. I generally go very light on the red pepper flakes; Hubby adds generously after being served. The rest of us like it as is.

Another tried and true that doesn't require the grill is this Ginger Seared Salmon.

All my boys enjoying the entertainment of gutter cleaning.

Apparently the sun has poked out at least once this spring...

Oh So Good Rib Recipe. Check.

I've been searching for a great country style rib recipe for a long time. Let's just say this: I didn't start earnestly cooking until I was married - almost 11 years ago - and I have yet to make decent ribs. That's a lot of failed attempts.

One of my best friends (of cake designing fame) gave me her mother-in-law's recipe and my search is over. This is it. This is the one that makes it into my little book of recipes.


Here it is:

Brown 2 lbs ribs with some diced onions. Pour sauce (recipe below) over ribs and cook about 2 hours at 350. (I cooked mine at 275 for almost 3 hours and they were awesome. My oven generally cooks things fast so I lowered the heat considerably). I think any oven would dry them out at 350 for that long...



Sauce:

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp dry mustard powder

1 tsp chili powder

Mix above together, then add below:

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup vinegar

1 cup waters

2 tsp soy sauce