Another weekend slips by...

We'll miss you, June Cleaver!


I awoke to the bad new this morning, Beaver's mom has passed away. Like all mom's, she was the strength in that household, the glue that held it all together. Oh, yeah, she always "deferred" to Ward's authority but she cunningly steered his opinion around to her views. She never cleaned in old raggy jeans (not that she owned any jeans!). Her hair was always salon fresh, her makeup perfect and, yes, she wore pearls while cooking, cleaning and simply relaxing around the house. She brought "style" to the roles of mother and housewife. Later, we learned she could also speak "jive" ! I mean talk about cool moms!!!

Barbara Billingsley (her real name) would have turned 95 in December. What a wonderful legacy she has left us.

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In other news, did any of you catch that talented 5th grader that played God Bless America on the trumpet at the 7th inning stretch in the NLCS game between the Phillies and the Giants last night? He was fantastic!! So sorry I didn't catch his name. I was watching it on a TV in a casino bar located in Phillies country. This little guy's fine rendition led to a rousing cheer there. At least they were able to cheer for him, the Phillies lost in the 9th. (I may come from Oriole-land but where are they now in October? I had to find somebody to cheer for. What can I say? I do enjoy baseball.) Oh well, that was only Game 1. Maybe they can make a come-back tonight.

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Yesterday turned out to be a fantastic Fall day, though a bit on the windy side. The temps were in the low 60s and the sun was extremely bright. We found ourselves drawn to a festival on the banks of the Susquehanna River and it was absolutely beautiful! We stopped in at Smokin' On The River in Port Deposit, Maryland just to hear a little music and maybe grab a bite to eat on our way to our evening destination.

This was not an official KCBS BBQ competition so we weren't involved in the judging of this Tail Gate Cook-Off. As it turned out, we were recognized and drafted into judging anyway. (The cooks had been promised KCBS judges and KCBS judging standards.) There were 17 talented cook teams that had fought the cool wind all day to produce some high quality ribs and there was an extreme shortage of judges. Turns out we only had 5 certifeid KCBS judges and one "celebrity judge", the St. Pauli Beer Girl ! (The guys voted her in, Big surprise!)

It wasn't in our plans but took only about an hour to sample and score these eats and we were glad to do it. Oh, and The Big Guy was thrilled to pose with the St. Pauli Girl, too!

GO RAVENS !!!! Game Day Menu!!

Baltimore born and bred, I remember the Colts literally sneaking out of town in the middle of the night. It was devastating to this sports town. This town has not forgiven them yet. So believe me, even though we will be away from home, we will be flaunting our purple pride and tuned in for the match between the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore’s indomitable Raven’s!

Whether your team is playing on Saturday or Sunday, chances are, you’re planning to watch one of the football playoff games this weekend. So you will definitely need food to maintain your sustenance for all that screaming, yelling and jumping around. Thought I’d share a recipe or two that we plan to make.

Along with the usual menu of wings, chips and beer (Baltimore IS a beer town!!!), we may just make up a batch of these jalapeno gems!

FRIED JALAPENOS

Prepare 6-8 jalapeno peppers by removing the stem end, and, using a pointed paring knife, remove the seeds and veins from the pepper. (The pepper’s heat is contained in the seeds and veins. We like the heat, so I usually only remove about half of the seeds from ours.)

Cream together:
1 ½ oz. cream cheese
1 - 1 ½ oz. shredded cheese of your choice
(mozzarella, cheddar, taco mix, etc.)
1 oz. mild or hot salsa (How hot do you want these?)

Beat 2 eggs in a small, deep bowl.
Blend ½ cup flour with ¾ cup seasoned bread crumbs in a cereal bowl.
Use canola oil to prepare a deep fryer to the fill depth or a frying pan to about a 2” depth.
Using a spoon, fill each pepper with the cheese mixture.
Dip each stuffed pepper in the egg bowl and then roll in the crumb mixture, coating completely.
Dip a second time in the egg and again in the crumbs.
Carefully place the peppers, a few at a time in the oil.
Fry till golden brown.
Serve warm.


We might even serve some ribs!!!

OVEN-BARBECUED BABY BACK RIBS

(Since we don’t own a real charcoal smoker, I developed this recipe to make my ribs in the oven. They can almost convince you they were smoked on the grill. These are “dry ribs” which means they are cooked without sauce, just a seasoned rub.)

2 racks of baby back ribs
½ cup dry rub to coat both sides of each rack
8-10 oz. apple cider or apple juice to spritz ribs while they cook

Remove the transparent membrane from the back of the racks of ribs before cooking. Generously apply rub to both sides of the ribs.
Place the ribs on a raised rack in a roaster pan.
Bake at 225° for 2 ½ hours, turning the ribs after one hour.
Spritz ribs with apple cider at that time and raise the oven temperature to 350° and continue cooking for 2 more hours, spritzing ribs about every half hour and turning after one hour. Finish the ribs off with 10-15 minutes under the broiler to brown them up.
** If you don’t have a small spray bottle to spritz, you can spoon the juice over the ribs just as you might baste a turkey.

This process should produce flavorful F.O.B. (fall off the bone) ribs!! If you must, add the bbq sauce of your choice.



GO RAVENS !!!!!!