Monday, July 28, 2008

Sunday's Visitors on the Side Porch

I'm afraid that these are terrible pictures of wonderful moments.

We had some unexpected visitors yesterday. First, at breakfast, Fracas decided that it was about time that we included her at the table and she sat in a chair at our table for the entire meal. I'm thinking that may have been her last breakfast (with us at the table, that is).Even more fun was the visit from Mindy and her family who were on their way home from Augusta. We had gotten way too many ribs from the Swancys at the market yesterday. It was perfect that John showed up so that we had someone who really knew how to cook them. It's been a trial and error thing for me. Now, I'll know what I'm doing.

After it got dark, it was time for poker. For some reason, only shirtless males pulled up to the table. The women stayed inside with our shirts on, discussing matters of great importance.

Apparently the picture was just wrong - Nicolas' head lined up with Max's dark hair giving Nicolas a scary toupee! So, I'll leave you with the wonderful spirit of the guys playing poker, though I think they were pretty funny.

10 comments:

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

You must share on how to cook ribs. Because I cannot figure it out. And now that you know what you are doing...lessons are called for. Please?!

Madeline Rains said...

Kat- the main thing, I learned, is to simmer them for up to an hour first. Then you can marinate them for a bit and then grill them with the sauce on them on the grill just enough to singe them, maybe four minutes or so a side? This is on low heat. On my grill, you have to use very low heat.

Oh, and I'm talking about pork ribs, not beef. That's a whole different story...

Danielle said...

Yikes!

Oh, and about the meat...

Jim just slow cooks them on the grill, no simmering involved, and they come out tender and delicious. We've tried dry rubs, but tend to prefer a wet sauce. Jim says the trick is to keep the coals off to the side. He cooks them about 3-4 hours this way, brushing them periodically.

Madeline Rains said...

We have a gas grill. : ( We regret it but that's the way it is. So, until it dies, it is difficult to slow cook anything. I might try to do this though. I'll bet it's delicious. D, your "Yikes" scared my picture off the blog.

Danielle said...

Awwwwww.... now I feel bad.

lol

It was pretty funny though. It took me a minute to figure out what the heck I was looking at with Nicolas's head—he looked like some military guy with a high and tight cut.

Madeline Rains said...

He did. I think it was a picture better left to the imagination. I needed the nudge.

Sona said...

To grill ribs you do so with indirect heat, not direct heat. Don't put the ribs over the flame at all.

You can also smoke them by using water soaked wood chips.

Do not apply BBQ sauce until the last 15 minutes of cooking. This keeps the sauce from burning (from the sugar) and being charred.

How long to cook depends on how hot it is and how many ribs your are cooking. Just check internal temperature.

Angie said...

Aww. That picture reminds me of our cat, that is no longer with
us:( He always used to sit at the table and wait until we caved in and gave him some scraps.

Ribs? One of my favorites - although I've never learned how to cook them either.

krg said...

Madeline,
Somehow I got two months behind on the blog and finally remembered to check it out when I sat down to write a postcard to the farm. As always, the photos are gorgeous and it's so wonderful to read about all your adventures, even though it makes me homesick. It's so hard to look at that great summertime produce here in the depths of winter! Of course, "winter" in Sydney is like a brisk spring day in Atlanta, but regardless, it's the winter of the wallet here if nothing else. This is going beyond the bounds of a blog comment, but I just wanted to chime in: keep up the wonderful work, and I'll be sure to keep coming back in one way or another.

More soon, and all our love.

Craig

Madeline Rains said...

I love all the ribs pointers.

Craig! How great to see you here from down under. We have thought about you guys a lot! I will now finally go check out your blog and find out how it's going. It was a bad time to have you call my family there but there is another couple whom you have to call! I'll email it to you through N.