Grilling Ribs

Sorry. No photos of this because I had witnesses and I've already been through that with husband Sam...

Saturday, while Sam and Elton were working on the building and Carol went to a native plant meeting (she's going to be putting in gardens eventually...I'm just about through), I put a rack of ribs (short ribs) on the grill. I haven't grilled anything since marrying Sam nearly 12 years ago - he's our griller. But I do remember how.

Oh! And this was the second time I've grilled since they started working on our building. I did steaks a few days before that. Only problem was that Sam normally reports when we are low on charcoal...and he didn't. Imagine my surprise when I looked in the sack and there wasn't many briquets. Too late to make a dash to the store, so I settled for them figuring that if the steaks didn't get cooked enough that I could put Carol's and mine under the broiler in the house. Everything worked out fine though...just had to bring the vegetables in to finish (yellow squash and zucchini...I forgot the onions).

In addition to the Weber grill the steaks were cooked on, we have a New Braunfels smoker/grill. I built a charcoal fire in the remote firebox. After the briquets turned white, I added some live oak wood chips that had been soaked in water to get a smoke going. I also put a pan of water under the rack the ribs would be cooked on. Put the seasoned ribs on the grill...kept the temp between 225 and 250 and left them alone. (Sam asked once if I'd checked on them. NO! Don't open the grill because the temperature cools too much and has to start all over.)

In the meantime, Carol arrived and watched the last of a movie with me...I started it over again for her while I boiled eggs (fresh from a wonderful neighbor and friend!) and Yukon gold potatoes. I opened a can of Bush's baked beans and doctored them with onions sauteed with four strips of bacon...lifted the bacon out of the cast iron skillet and poured the beans in. Stirred in some mustard and brown sugar. Got everything hot on the stove, laid the bacon slices on top of the beans then put the whole shebang on the grill beside the ribs.

Made the potato salad and refrigerated it.

The movie Carol and I watched? Disney's Song of the South. I love it. It's part of my childhood and just imagine my surprise when I read online that it's considered racist. Of course the article I read was written by an immigrant from Trinidad... When that little boy placed his little white hand in Uncle Remus' big black hand...tell me what's racist about that?! Before anyone does holler "racist," let's remember that this film was made in 1946. Back in the 50s when I first saw it, I wished that I knew someone just like Uncle Remus...an adult (black or white) who really had time for small children and loved them...regardless!

Watch a good movie (while the guys work). Grilled ribs we each dipped in bbq sauce - or not. Potato salad, smokey beans, buttered and toasted sour dough bread. Glasses of iced tea. Um-um! Finished with watermelon.