BBQ Rib Recipe and Birthday Fun

Quote of the Day:  lyrics from Good in the Kitchen performed by Bearfoot:  Click on the song title to hear them performing it, living room style.  It's a cute ditty.

If you want to see my recipe, make it good in the kitchen, good in the kitchen, and get ready to eat...I'll bring the biscuits, you bring jambalaya...doobie doobie doobie do waaayy...

I wanted BBQ spareribs on my birthday, so I went to the grocery, where they were on sale!  A home-made sauce is so much better than the presoaked ribs you can buy at the stores in my neck of the woods.  I found this recipe in the First Lutheran Church Cookbook.  Those church ladies always share their best recipes.  This one comes from the kitchen of Margareth.

Barbecued Spareribs
2 T. vinegar
2 T. brown sugar
4 T lemon juice (or lime juice if that's what's in your fridge)
1 c. ketchup
3 T. Worchestershire sauce
1/2 c. water
Sauted onions
salt & pepper to taste

Brown ribs, pour sauce over, and bake at 300 for about two hours. 

A photo before baking.  After baking, they were falling off the bones delicious and disappeared quickly along with the mashed potatoes.  We finished off the meal with some birthday brownies.

I also had coffee with a friend, and lunch out with my boys.  They gave me three journals, a book, a CD, and large glasses for when we have rootbeer floats.

Painting by Art by JeMA.

 

Fried ice cream.

Food Art

And, a visit from two neighbor piano girls who offered to deliver Koolade to me on my birthday, "We'll just need a quarter," they said.

I've had a great week, celebrating one more year of life, sending my sons off to school and all the adventures a new school year brings, and reclaiming some creative space.  I'm halfway through Act 3 of my coffee shop drama.  I can smell the coffee of intermission.  It's getting closer.

And, to all of you, claim your own creative space - Go, Create, Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  How would you like to spend your birthday?

Fear No Art

Quote of the Day:  Fear No Art - a sign above a door at the Hot Shops Art Center in Omaha, NE. From their website:  A place where artists can work and interact establishes an atmosphere for creative art discourse. This will not only be an energizing influence on development of art, it will ultimately create relationships with other artists fostering a sense of community.

Have you ever wondered why people take the time to make things beautiful?  On our trip to Omaha, my friend, who is a visual artist, looked up places of interest in the arts.  We visited the Hot Shops and the Joslyn Art Museum.  All forms of art existed in every culture from the beginning of time.  What motivated the Native Americans to spend hours sewing elaborate bead patterns on their dresses?  What motivated Monet to break out of the mode of realism and develop something new?  How have the stories and legends of our ancestors been passed down through generations, and why are we still interested in them?  How is it that music written over a hundred years ago stirs up in us today the deep emotions that stirred the creator?

The Hot Shops and the artists who gather there have what I dream of having - a community that encourages one another and builds each other up.  When we found the shops, we walked up to a man welding a miniature baby grand piano.  He showed us the glasswork keyboard that would go on it.  The glassmaker had made that for him.  He said they work together to make art.  They interact and bounce ideas off one another.  They encourage each other to "go for it," when they think they're having a wild and crazy idea in their art.  When you're surrounded by all that art and beauty, your creative spirit soars.

Journaling Prompt:  Who is on your creative team?  What art would you do if you had no fear and unlimited resources?

The blogging world is my creative team. Thank you Joanne at Whole Latte Life for pointing that out to me.  We writers are great creative support to one another.  Thank you all!  Lisa and Laura featured the book It's Raining Cupcakes (the very thought!) on their blog this week, and have a copy to give away.  Their question was, What's your favorite flavor of cupcake?  Since I made them drool with my favorite, I included the recipe below for all to try and enjoy!

Black Bottom Cupcake
Part 1
6 oz. cream cheese
2 beaten eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 c. sugar
12 oz. package chocolate chips
Beat all the ingredients well, then stir in the chocolate chips.  Set aside.

Part 2
3 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
Sift together.

Part 3
2 c. water
2/3 c. cooking oil
2 tsp. vanilla
Beat well and add to Part 2. Fill cupcake tin (add papers if you like) about 1/2 full. Drop 1 tsp. of Part 1 on top of each one.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Oh, ya, they're worth every calorie!

Have a safe and reflective Memorial weekend.

Affirmations Abound, Plus a Recipe

Dear Bloggies, and Bloggie Readers,
Just when I was pulling back to retreat, you called me back to the front line.  No time to rest in camp, Mary, we want you to come Play (off the Page) with us.  More awards and affirmations keep coming in.  Well, thank you.  I'm feeling unworthy, but happy.

Quillfeathers Rooster, from Roxy at A Woman's Write, fun blog name! She has a great sense of humor.  We've recently found each other, and I think she's a "keeper."

I think this is the one where you tell the world how you like your eggs. Need to mention again that I'm a farm girl, and the rooster doesn't lay the eggs, he's the guy who wakes you up in the morning (sort of like your unruly children or noisy pets or the phone).  What I really like is when my eggs are in an egg bake, prepared the night before, so that all I have to do is stumble down to the kitchen in my jammies and put it in the oven, start my coffee, grab a book and go back to bed.

Here's my favorite egg bake recipe.  I got it from my sister.

Ham & Egg Bake
Cover bottom of (cake) pan with onion and garlic croutons
Cube ham and layer it on top of the croutons
Sprinkle with about 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese
(Add a layer of onions and green peppers if you like them.)

In a small bowl mix 4 eggs, 2 cups milk, 3/4 tsp. dry mustard, pour this over the layered ingredients, cover and set in fridge overnight.

In the morning, combine one can cream o' mushroom soup and 1/2 cup milk, pour over egg bake, top with hashed-browns (put the frozen package in the fridge the night before so they're thawed a bit), cover and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, then uncover it, sprinkle more cheese on top and bake another 1/2 hour, or so.

Humane Award, from Shannon at Book Dreaming, kindest people I know award.  Here's what she wrote about me:  * Mary @ Play Off the Page - Mary has a heart that expands in proportion to the needs of others. I love her.


That is kindness at the top of the ladder.  I'm going to humbly believe that is true because I've felt the stretching pains of trying to make it bigger.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Journaling Prompt:  Write out a favorite recipe, where you got it, who shared it with you, when you served, how it turned out.  Good or bad - comfort or disaster - for better or worse.  Recipes and shared food are the ingredients of great stories!