Holiday Traditions

     This is the first Christmas that I’ve ever spent away from The Mitten and consequently away from my family. When you couple that with the thermometer outside reading 57 degrees, I haven’t exactly been feeling the holiday spirit. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not feeling Scrooge-like or anything like that, it just hasn’t really felt like Christmas. Well, instead of moping about it, I decided to get to work on a (relatively new) holiday tradition that I can observe this year—Christmas Eve BBQ ribs and gluten-free mac and cheese. After a quick dash to the local ALDI’s (I love living five minutes from such a great store), where I encountered several people that were in the Christmas Spirit, I made it back to the apartment feeling much jollier. Emma (my better half) and I have been doing some version of this for the last three years, and it’s something that we plan on keeping going for as long as we can. I want to take this opportunity to wish anyone reading this a Merry Christmas (or a happy whatever holiday you may or may not be celebrating). I may not be with my entire family this year, but being with Emma is all I really need anyway. With the holiday and a freelance opportunity that came my way, my posts may be a bit less frequent than usual for a few days. Then again, I never really know when the urge to jot something down will overtake me. So feel free to check in, or look back at posts from the previous couple of weeks. Either way, I should definitely be back to my regular posting schedule after the weekend.    

     I realize that ribs can be serious business to some people, so this recipe and technique may be blasphemous to some. Personally, I really like country-style ribs (actually, I love ribs period, but country-style is generally readily available, so that tends to be one of my go-to versions). To be honest, I’m not exactly sure how they’ll turn out because I’m tweaking my own style a bit since I haven’t had a chance to fully restock my spice cabinet. I’ll let you know how they turn out.  

Christmas Eve Ribs

Spice Rub
5 TBSP Black Pepper
3 TBSP Salt
3 TPS garlic powder or salt
3 TPS paprika
1 TPS cumin
1 TPS Thyme
2 TPS Lawry’s Seasoning Salt
2  TBSP White Sugar
1/3 cup Brown Sugar

Mix the spices together in a bowl, and then rub into the meat. Throw the ribs into a zip-lock bag for a few hours (the longer the better). Coat the bottom of a large frying pan with butter or cooking oil and place on medium heat. Place the ribs into the pan until they are seared, and then place them into a baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray or coated in oil. Bake the ribs at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove the ribs from the oven and cover them with the BBQ sauce of your choice (I’m using Sweet Baby Rays this year since I didn’t have an opportunity to whip up my own sauce). Place the ribs back into the oven and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Pull the ribs out of the oven and let them set for about five minutes. Serve and enjoy.