Love in the Kitchen - making fast, healthy, homegrown meals you'll enjoy

Friday, June 25, 2010

Guy Fieri's Spicy Cherry Ribs

So in honor of our visits to Guy's restaurants (Tex Wasabi's and Johnny Garlic), I thought I would post one of Guy's recipes. Here are his Spicy Cherry Ribs - look tasty, don't they?



Spicy Cherry Ribs


Ingredients
•2 teaspoons yellow mustard
•2 pork rib racks (St. Louis style spare ribs)
•1 teaspoon salt
•1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
•1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
•1/2 teaspoon paprika
•1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
•1 recipe Spicy Cherry Glaze, recipe follows
•2 tablespoons scallions, chopped
•1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Directions
Place ribs onto aluminum foil. Brush the mustard onto the ribs. Mix dry ingredients thoroughly. Then cover the ribs with the rub. Let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Wrap the ribs, meat side down, in the aluminum foil then place onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 225 degrees F and cook for another 1 1/2 hours. Then, open the foil and cook for 1 hour. Remove ribs from oven, and discard the foil. Cut into 4-rib portions. Liberally slather on the Spicy Cherry Glaze, then place, bone side down, in a roasting pan. Pour the remaining sauce over the ribs and continue to cook for 1 1/2 hours, basting occasionally. When ribs are fork tender, place under broiler for 10 minutes to crisp the cherry glaze. Serve immediately garnished with scallions and sesame seeds.

Spicy Cherry Glaze:

•1 tablespoon oil
•1 cup diced red onion
•4 tablespoons minced ginger
•3 cups canned cherries in syrup, preferably Bing
•2 tablespoons minced garlic
•2 tablespoons tequila (recommended: Cabo Wabo Resposado)
•3 tablespoons hot sauce (recommended: Sriracha)
•1 teaspoon sesame oil
•1 tablespoon sherry wine vinegar
•4 tablespoons soy sauce
•1 teaspoon salt
•1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

In a medium saute pan over medium heat, add oil, onion, ginger, cherries and garlic. Saute until lightly caramelized. Deglaze with tequila, hot sauce, sesame oil, sherry wine vinegar and soy sauce. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Season, with salt and pepper.




For more great recipes, check out The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap! If you have a recipe to share, please join in the fun!


Zentmrs
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Thursday, June 24, 2010

Before and After


These shots were taken in Chinatown in San Francisco. I love the juxtaposition of the old and new buildings, the east and west, with the lanterns, church and office building, and natural and man-made, with the moon and the buildings.

I liked the original shot a lot, so only adjusted it a bit for color and for light and shadow. Hope you enjoy my before and after!







If you like my shots, you need to visit Pixel Perfect for more before and after fun! And if you want to play along all you have to do is show us your SOOC (straight out of camera) shot and then the edited version. Link back to Pixel Perfect and link up your post below! Feel free to share with us your editing program and camera gear too!







Zentmrs Pin It

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

A Taste of Our Last Day in San Francisco

We took it easy on ourselves today and only walked about 11 miles (making our grand total for three days about 40 miles). We clearly don't vacation well.

Today we spent in Golden Gate Park. We had also planned to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. Problem was, the Bay was completely fogged in - no view from the bridge. Unless of course you enjoy a nice view of the inside of a cloud. And, it was cold. And windy. I know that I am a wimpy So Cal girl, but seriously folks. This is my summer vacation and today was 50 degrees, 75% humidity and stiff winds. No sun. Not my idea of nice weather.

Still, we had a great day! This is the Spreckels Temple of Music (San Diego folks might think it looks like the Spreckels Organ Pavillion in Balboa Park - the Temple of Music in Golden Gate Park was named after Claus Spreckels, father of John D. Spreckels, after whom Balboa Park's Organ Pavillion was named).



The Park has wonderful flowers and plants. These are calla lilies that are almost as tall as me!

This is the Dutch Windmill, one of two windmills in the Park. It's located next to the Queen Wilhelmina tulip gardens... gorgeous!

We walked around Strawberry Hill too. This is The Mr and one of the beautiful waterfalls.


We left San Fran just before rush hour, and finally found some sun around Santa Cruz!

Looking forward to a couple more days of vacation before we head home!


Zentmrs
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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Lunch at Tadish Grill... Pin It

Some Views from San Francisco

If you have noticed that I haven't been commenting this week, it is because we're on vacation!

We finished our handbell festival this weekend (more about that a different day). We were in Davis, CA (a really nice town... makes us rethink our hasty exits from academia... ) and now are having fun in San Francisco.

Except that it is cold here. Does anyone know that it is summer? Warm weather? I guess Mark Twain had it right when he said "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco..."

Anyway, today (after we dealt with our car break-in) we walked all around the city. Well around a lot of it at least. We ended up walking about 13 miles. A very walking-friendly city.

Some of the places we saw today... Ghiradelli Square, Fisherman's Wharf, Embarcadero, Coit Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, and Chinatown. We had a fabulous dinner at a little Italian restaurant in North Beach (recommended by a nice woman who thought we might want directions somewhere, and when we didn't thought we might want a dinner recommendation - thanks nice lady for a great dinner idea!) and walked back to our hotel past City Hall.










We're having a great time!





Zentmrs Pin It

Tuesday Garden Party - What to do about critters?

We've got some new plants in pots. This is a sunflower (that I rescued from the bird bath... technically I suppose it was "planted" by a bird since the birds knocked the bird seed into the bird bath and the seed started to grow in the water....).

And here is a new tomato plant (beefmaster - I think they'll be big tomatoes).
The problem is, we've seen some of these guys around.


Cute, right? Except that they eat plants. And now we have tasty plants where they can eat them. So my question is... what do we do about it?

Next week - all about flowers. In the meantime, check out An Oregon Cottage for her weekly Garden Party.


What's in YOUR garden this week?





Zentmrs
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Monday, June 21, 2010

Enjoying San Fran

If you have noticed that I haven't been commenting this week, it is because we're on vacation!

We finished our handbell festival this weekend (more about that a different day). We were in Davis, CA (a really nice town... makes us rethink our hasty exits from academia... ) and now are having fun in San Francisco.

Except that it is cold here. Does anyone know that it is summer? Warm weather? I guess Mark Twain had it right when he said "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco..."

Anyway, today (after we dealt with our car break-in) we walked all around the city. Well around a lot of it at least. We ended up walking about 13 miles. A very walking-friendly city.

Some of the places we saw today... Ghiradelli Square, Fisherman's Wharf, Embarcadero, Coit Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, and Chinatown. We had a fabulous dinner at a little Italian restaurant in North Beach (recommended by a nice woman who thought we might want directions somewhere, and when we didn't thought we might want a dinner recommendation - thanks nice lady for a great dinner idea!) and walked back to our hotel past City Hall.










We're having a great time!





Zentmrs Pin It

Afternoon snack! Pin It

Friday, June 18, 2010

Red, White and Blueschetta!

We used our first tomato of the year to make these delicious appetizers. I think they will make great 4th of July fare!

It's another easy recipe. You need to dice your tomato. We had one small tomato and it made 3 servings.


Slice French or Italian bread into as many slices as the number of needed servings. Toast the slices.

While the bread is toasting, put the tomatoes in a bowl with about one half of teaspoon of olive oil per tomato. Stir gently and add chopped herbs (I used basil, oregano and thyme) and salt and pepper to taste.

When the bread has toasted, evenly distribute the tomato mixture on top of the toasts. Top each toast with a tablespoon of blue cheese. And serve!



For more great recipes, check out The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap! If you have a recipe to share, please join in the fun!



Zentmrs Pin It

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Before and After - Peeking

Meet my sweet Lucy. She's our oldest cat now, and really as sweet and gentle as can be.

She's also entirely black and very hard to photograph. So I decided to take the below photo and use Picnik.com to edit and see if I could get a decent shot of her out of it.



What do you think of the results?




If you like my shots, you need to visit Pixel Perfect for more before and after fun! And if you want to play along all you have to do is show us your SOOC (straight out of camera) shot and then the edited version. Link back to Pixel Perfect and link up your post below! Feel free to share with us your editing program and camera gear too!






Zentmrs Pin It

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

On the Road

The Mr and I are preparing for a little vacation. We'll be going with the guy in the white sweater to a handbell conference in Northern, CA, then driving down the coast and visiting with the other two folks in the picture (the tall guy, standing in the back, the one with all the spots? we won't be visiting him). I'm looking forward to it!


Zentmrs
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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Tuesday Garden Party - In the Front

We spent our gardening time in our front yard for the most part this last week.


Right now we've got tons of miniature roses growing in our window boxes at the front windows.



And now we have an empty space. Waiting to be filled. Don't tell The Mr I said that. ;-)
We have an empty space because we moved these shrubs...


... this poor rose (I am hoping that she will do better in her new location)...
... and a whole bunch of lilies. I like how it all turned out!


And do you remember last week? When I showed you that little cayenne pepper? This one?



This is it this week! Holy cow!









Next week - critter questions. In the meantime, check out An Oregon Cottage for her weekly Garden Party.


What's in YOUR garden this week?





Zentmrs Pin It

Monday, June 14, 2010

Happy Flag Day!

Flag Day is celebrated today. commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened June 14 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777.




The American flag consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton (referred to specifically as the "union") bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. The fifty stars on the flag represent the 50 states and the 13 stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that rebelled against the British monarchy and became the first states in the Union.

The United States Flag Code outlines certain guidelines for the use, display, and disposal of the flag. For example, the flag should never be dipped to any person or thing, unless it is the ensign responding to a salute from a ship of a foreign nation. (This tradition may come from the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, where countries were asked to dip their flag to King Edward VII: the American flag bearer did not. Team captain Martin Sheridan is famously quoted as saying "this flag dips to no earthly king", though the true provenance of this quotation is unclear.)

The flag should never be allowed to touch the ground and, if flown at night, must be illuminated. If the edges become tattered through wear, the flag should be repaired or replaced. When a flag is so tattered that it can no longer serve as a symbol of the United States, it should be destroyed in a dignified manner, preferably by burning. The American Legion and other organizations regularly conduct flag-burning ceremonies, often on Flag Day, June 14. It is a common myth that if a flag touches the ground or becomes soiled, it must be burned as well. While a flag that is currently touching the ground and a soiled flag are unfit for display, neither situation is permanent and thus the flag does not need to be burned if the unfit situation is remedied.

Significantly, the Flag Code prohibits using the flag "for any advertising purpose" and also states that the flag "should not be embroidered, printed, or otherwise impressed on such articles as cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins, boxes, or anything intended to be discarded after temporary use". Both of these codes are generally ignored, almost always without comment.

One of the most commonly ignored and misunderstood aspects of the Flag Code is section 8. "The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery." Section 3 of the Flag Code defines a flag for the purposes of the code. It clarifies the definition to include any picture or representation of the flag purporting to be of the flag of the United States of America. Therefore T-shirts, or other apparel made of or containing a representation of the flag are in violation of the code.

To me the flag is a symbol of our freedom, and a reminder of all of those who fought to give us that freedom. It is a symbol of the responsibility that we all have to keep alive the spirit of the United States of America.


Zentmrs
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Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sunday Snapshot - A Boy's-Eye View

The Boy had a friend over this afternoon.

They love Lego Star Wars.

It's an obsession really.

Here's a sight from their point of view...

Everyone loves R2D2, right?


But even those obsessed get tired of Legos and have to move on to video games.


Sometimes it is good to hand off the controller to a friend.

I wonder where that focus is in real life...

When you are a nine year old boy, life is good!


Ni Hao Y'all





Zentmrs
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