Connie had a birthday. Not one of the big ones but we celebrated nonetheless. Three dishes and three cocktails. Loved the meal. Haven't blogged about it yet... In truth, I can't find the recipes now...
Drove the Natchez Trace to a conference in New Orleans. Amazing food and drinks. Except for the food at the conference hotel - Hyattt by the Superdome. Go to Borgne but do not stay at that hotel. The food was the worst conference food I've EVER had. And, I go to a LOT of conferences! New Orleans, however, was stellar. Antiones, Commanders Palace, Arnauds. Oh, yeah.
Had a party. 90+ people at our house for a pitch-in. We did BBQ from Black Diamond. Except, we found out on Friday that we'd have 90+ instead of 70+ and we couldn't add to our order. On to Sam's to purchase six racks of ribs. Many dishes that I want the recipe for. YUMMM
Went to Michigan for a long weekend with our friends Chris and Mark. Saugatuck and the Hungry Village Tour. AMAZING! Then, on to Grand Rapids for the Meijer Gardens and the Gerald Ford Museum. One fabulous B and B and one we'll not be back to.
Family party at my brothers where he cooked the PERFECT summer dinner. Yup, it just doesn't get better than bbq chicken, corn on the cobb, sliced cucumbers, salad, cheesy bacon potatoes and pickled beets.
Now, if I was to do a blog on all of those I'd still be typing tomorrow morning when I'm supposed to be at the office for the first of six appointments. With an internet that's running at maybe 25% of what it's supposed to be doing. Painful. So, let me tell you about the ribs and the leftovers from the party. Oh, and a few photos from the party. Of course.
Back in 1994, Cheryl and Bill Jamison published Smoke and Spice. I bought it that year. It was my first true barbecue cookbook and is still my favorite one. I've tried rubs, marinades, sauces, entrees, side dishes. They've all been wonderful. So, when we wound up with a herd of ribs to cook at the last minute, I turned to Smoke and Spice. I'd already decided to use the Maple Mustard Porter mop and sauce we made a couple of months ago. Nice warm spices, thyme, brown sugar. Those were the flavors I was looking for. They were there. In a rub recipe called Sweet Sensation rub that I first used back in May, 1997. It was labeled, "WOW" back then. Same applies today.
Here are a few shots of the party:
Then, we had leftovers. Lots of our friends left goodies. Sue left half a pan of baked beans. These weren't just any baked beans. They were so good that Connie stopped me in the hall outside our offices and asked who'd brought them and could I get the recipe because they were the BEST beans he'd ever had. I had to agree. Sammy and Sarah left chorizo mac and cheese. Killer. Just killer. There was another half pan of REALLY good mac and cheese. And, Nancy and Roy left some of her German potato salad. That I don't share. Connie says he's not that fond of potatoes so I take that as a green light to hoard the potato salad all for myself. It's the best I've ever had. There was a big tub of a yummy bean, corn and red bell pepper salsa. I have NO clue who brought that. We also had some of Becky and Dave's loaded baked potato salad. Yummy! Brett and Gabe left a huge bowl of pimento cheese. Not only is this one of our favorites, but Brett kicks it up with jalapenos and other goodies. Connie said please, please, please get the recipe. I've already got it somewhere in my email. Thank goodness! We had part of a pan of mostly pulled pork with a few flecks of beef brisket mixed in. The meat was a bit crispy and dried out but I'm too Scotch to toss that. As Connie said, it was kind of reminiscent of burnt ends. We had a few ribs left. Last, but not least, there were a few dried out pieces of smoked chicken. So, an overload of protein and carbs. What to do?
Lunch Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday was ribs and baked beans. Normally after two times I'm done. Not quite sure I'm done after three even though we're out of beans... Yes, I'll share the recipe as soon as I get it. This will go to family dinners and be devoured!
Monday night was pulled pork and pimento cheese sliders. On the side we had carbs, carbs and carbs. And, boy oh boy was it all good!
Tuesday night some of the pulled pork got mixed into some of the mac and cheese along with some pimento cheese and milk. The whole shebang was topped with toasted panko crumbs and baked. The only thing missing was some red peppers. Either roasted red bell or peppadews or another red pepper would've added a bit more pizazz.
Wednesday night was hot smoked chicken and pulled pork salad. Topped with shredded cheddar and crumbled bagel chips that Brett had brought for the pimento cheese. We paired that with a cherry cherry tomato salsa. Yes, there are two cherries in that description. I'll share those recipes in another post...
Sweet Sensation Rub
1/4 c ground allspice
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c onion powder
2 T salt
2 t ground nutmeg
2 t ground cinnamon
2 t dried thyme
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