My Father-in-law smokes...

...ribs and chicken! :)  Okay men...are there any men who read my blog? 

Anyway if you have a man you should make him read this post because it is all about meat and fire and smoke - manly man things.  Or...if you don't have a man and are craving a yummy smoked meal, you fire up that smoker yourself girl! A great guide for all things smoking is this book, Smoke and Spice which Ryan and his dad use on a regular basis - this would make a great Father's Day gift ;) 

So here is our step-by-step guide for making that perfect southern smoked ribs and chicken.

Step 1:  Pull off the fibrous membrane
on the back of the ribs. 

If you skip this step, you risk making tough ribs.  Nobody wants to eat tough ribs.

Step 2:  Season the meat.  

My father-in-law uses this rub for the ribs, that he buys here

and this rub for the chicken which can be purchased here.

Step 3:  Prepare the smoker.  He has this propane smoker, which starts the fire super fast, but if you have a traditional smoker (like my husband uses) you will have to light the charcoals using lighter fluid, or for the purist, use a chimney starter and wait for them to turn white.

Place the wood chips in the tray of the gas smoker or directly on the charcoal in a traditional smoker.  My father-in-law uses a combination of a wood chips blend and wood chunks.

 

Instead of pouring water into the pan to create the smoke, he pours Coca-Cola. 

It produces a lovely flavor. 

Step 4:  Put the ribs in a rib rack and chicken directly on the wire rack and into the smoker.  The ideal temperature is 180-220 (on a charcoal smoker the temp needs to stay in the ideal range).  Wood chips and chunks need to be added every 45-60 minutes to keep the smoke going (the more wood you use, the smokier it will taste).  You want to maintain that temperature for 4-4.5 hours for chicken, and about 7 hours for ribs. 

Step 5:  When they are done, he pulls them out and lightly covers half of them in Sweet Baby Ray's Original Barbecue Sauce (only half because some people like the dry rub by itself).

Step 6:  Serve 'em up along with some fried pickles (Ryan uses this recipe), fruit, and pasta- oh boy!

This weekend I bought...

this lovely art work by Kelly Rae Roberts.  You can read more about her here.

I also bought this Gorgeous Cookbook that is organized by..............wait for it............................

COLOR!!!  Each chapter is devoted to a color of food.  So cool - and very yummy recipes!

My mother-in-law and I went shopping at the store where she works and we bought these lovely items as well as some other little trinkets.  If you are ever in Ocala, FL check it out!

Gather Your Roses - Pillow Tutorial

My inspiration came from this Rosette pillow from Anthropologie ($58). 

It is really simple to make and adds a very elegant touch to any room.  Ready?  This is how I did it -

Step one:  Cut out a 22" square for the front (the larger you make the front the more "gathery" it will be) and a 17" square for the back.  

Step two:  Using a basting stitch, stitch around all four sides of the front - gathering it to 17" as you go.

Step three:  Pin the gathered front to the back, right sides together.

Step four:  Stitch around (1/2" seam) leaving about a 10" opening in the center of the bottom edge

Step five:  Turn it inside out - the top will be loose like this:

Step six:  Stuff the pillow with your 17" pillow form

Step seven:  Pin the closing

Step eight:  Gather the loose fabric on the front into the center, forming a pouf - wrap a rubber band around it.

Step nine:  Using a needle and thread, hand gather below the rubber band, pulling the thread tight as you go.  

Step ten:  Once you feel it is securely gathered, remove the rubber band and poof out the rosette.  Hand tack the edges of the rosette to the pillow.

Step eleven:  Lastly hand-tack the opening closed and toss it on a bed!

Custom Pillows Anyone?

Here are the finished pillows  that we made for my mother-in-laws guest bed: 2 shams, 3 throw pillows, and one throw.  Coming soon: the tutorial on how to make that throw pillow in the center - the gathered one.  More soon!

jessica

Flickr-ing

Hello friends - I set up a flickr group for you to add pics of your lovely projects! Scroll down and the link should be in the left-hand column of this blog.  Now we can all share what we have made ;)

p.s. This is my first time doing this and if you can't get it to work please tell me and I will fix it.  thanks! jessica

Stop # 3

Yesterday we arrived at destination number three on our nomadic vacation of sorts.  We have landed in Ocala, Fl at my in-laws home.  So now you will get to see some of the interesting things they do, cook, and make :) ....and some of the interesting things I will be doing/cooking/making while we are here for two weeks.  First project on the list - pillows for my mom-in-laws guest bed.  This is her Christmas gift that sadly, yes, I am just making now in June.  Well I guess better late than never.  This is the stash of fabric we are using:

We are going to make shams, throw pillows, and a throw for the foot of the bed. 
Other projects on my list:     shower curtain for our TN home
                                          hand-quilt my quilt
                                          a few projects from a new book- Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross
                                          and just a few random projects that I'm sure will pop into my head later
I'll keep you posted on the progress!
jessica

Aunt Jo's Diner

Saturday night we created our own burger joint - my sister Joanna likes to make her own french fries from scratch so I took pictures of her working and I am going to share them with you!  They take a little bit of work, but are so yummy and not that bad for you because they are baked.  You will need:
8-9 baking potatoes
4-5 tsp of canola or corn oil
salt and pepper or Cajun seasoning
paper towels
kinfe
cutting board

The first step is to peel the potatoes.  BONUS tip:  When peeling potatoes or carrots, line a bowl with a plastic bag.  Let the peels fall into the bag as you peel, then when you are finished tie up the bag and throw away!  Sure beats leaning over the trash can for 20 minutes.

Next cut the potatoes into strips and let them dry on paper towels.  Here is how to cut them.
Cut in half

Turn one half cut side down - cut in half

Cut each of those pieces in half, turn those halves onto their side.

Cut into 1/2" strips- try to keep them all uniform, this will help them cook evenly.

Let them dry for about 10 minutes - patting with paper towels as needed.  The drying process helps them absorb the oil.

Now, put them all into a bowl and pour the oil over the fries. 

Toss with a spoon to coat them well. 

Lay them onto cookie sheets in a FLAT layer - they only brown when they are touching the pan.
Bake them in the oven at 450 for about 35 minutes, turning them over as needed so they will brown on all sides. 
When they are done, toss them with the seasoning in a bowl- serve up along side a big juicy burger and a diet coke- who needs to go out?

 Have a great Memorial Day!
jessica