Friday

So, I got home on Friday (after "Banging that Drum") at 5:10 PM. I immediately took the jerky out of the oven (it was supposed to heat for 20 hours and this would be 22 hours). While that cooled to room temp, I put my boots on, went out back and put a suet cake in the cage. I had my camera in my pocket, but nothing jumped out as a great photo. The crocus on Jake's patio had not yet bloomed, for example. I used the last of my roasted peanuts to fill the squirrel feeder.

Back inside, I took a call from a friend. We hung up just after 6:00 PM. So, I put the cooled-off beef jerky into a Zip-Lock baggie and tried a bite. Hmmm... well it's pretty chewy and also pretty spicy. I kinda wish I'd gone with a soy sauce or something with a little less heat. But, it is what it is. And, the most important thing is, I now can make jerky at home!

So, now it's cleaning up. I emptied the dishwasher I had started up at lunch. Then I washed the big bowls and pans. Next I moved to the stove top (which I had trashed last night).

Okay, so Jake and Carla are coming over tomorrow afternoon to celebrate the arrival of spring (its supposed to be sunny and a high of 50 degrees). So, what better way to celebrate but with grillin' and chillin'? So, I'm thinking my Sweet Bourbon baby back ribs, with two sides: macaroni and cheese and beer-baked beans. Since the ribs need a long, low and slow oven time, I think I should make the sides tonight and reheat them tomorrow.

So, for the beans, I rendered four strips of bacon, cut into one inch strips, in my Dutch oven. This is one of those recipes that you just use store-bought stuff and combine, BTW. A lot of Foodies sneer at these, but its quick, easy and tastes good, so who cares?

When the fat was rendered, but before the bacon was crispy, I added a fine-diced red onion and cooked it until the onion was soft (about five minutes). Then I added the remainder of the ingredients: two (28 ounce) cans of plain old pork and beans, 1/4 cup of ketchup, 1/4 cup of spicy brown mustard, three tablespoons of molasses and one 12 ounce bottle of beer.

I heated that up to a boil, and then turned it down to a simmer for another 10 minutes. Meanwhile, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees F. When the 10 minutes were up, I carefully ladled the beans into a two-quart casserole dish, put that on a half-sheet tray and popped it into the oven. I'll check it in 45 minutes and see if the beans are at my desired thickness (takes anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, BTW)

Now, I should be moving on to the mac & cheese, but I realized how tired I was. So, I decided that would be a Saturday morning thing and, instead, heated up some of the leftover pasta for my dinner. I ate that while reading.

I checked the beans when the timer went off: No, not thick enough. I let it go the remaining 15 minutes and then took it out of the oven. I let it set on the cutting board to cool and went to check out the TV shows. Damn! No boxing tonight, only basketball. Yuck!

So, I watched taped shows until I got sleepy. Then I covered the beans and put them in the fridge. Then I put myself to bed.