Memorial Day

Today was a day of little chores and a little relaxation. Before it got too hot (and it did get too hot!) I watered the front gardens and the grass growing over the old pine tree site. I sprayed the driveway with an herbicide (some grass was starting to take root).

I weedwacked the edge of the lot next door about 1/3 down (ran out of string). Then I applied herbicide to it as well, about 1/4 of the way down (ran out of spray). I also installed the chicken wire back on the wall for the morning glories to climb on.

I had parboiled some chicken breasts yesterday, but never did anything else with them, so I decided to barbecue them. I also had some hamburger left from Friday night, so I thawed out another pound to go with that (you see how these things snowball?) Then I thought I really would need some sweet corn, so went to Farmer Jacks. While I was there, picked up some Portobello mushroom caps, then I saw a great deal on pork ribs (probably had too much left over from this weekend) so I bought those as well.

I thought about calling Jake and Carla (because now there would be an embarrassing abundance of food) but didn't because they'd been here for almost three days and (even more importantly) I wasn't too sure how the ribs would turn out (having never made them before).

I used a dry rub and then a mop while they cooked over indirect heat (with some wet hickory wood chips every now and then for smoke). Also grilled three Portobello mushroom caps as a light lunch item. When the mushrooms were done, I covered them with a mixture of diced tomato, mozzarrella cheese, garlic and olive oil, Very tasty!

After three hours, pulled the ribs off and into the oven to stay warm. Next came the chicken with barbecue sauce, the hamburgers and finally the sweet corn. Most of it went into the fridge for leftover meals, but I did have some ribs and two sweet corn for dinner. Not the best ribs I've ever had, (okay, I admit it, Jake's were better!) but not bad, either. Pretty good for a "first try."