While Mondays are for work, Sundays are for...

lazing about and grilling out.

I spent Sunday afternoon lazing about on my hammock in the backyard and smoking my first pork babyback ribs.

I told you I would share my homemade BBQ sauce with you so here you go.


The Sauce:
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup cider vinegar (vinegar is the best part of the recipe and key to a good bbq sauce)
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 tablespoons yellow mustard (I actually used dry yellow mustard and the kind you put on a hot dog)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili powder (use Mexican chili powder if you want more heat to your sauce)
Tabasco sauce to taste (I use habanero Tabasco sauce)

To make the sauce:
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the vegetable oil. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, including Tabasco sauce to taste, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Set aside. Pour some of the sauce in a small bowl to use for basting the ribs. (I don't actually baste. I leave sauce ro everyone's taste.)

The Ribs:
2 to 3 slabs baby back pork ribs

I went ahead and soaked the ribs the night before in a brine, the same brine I used on pulled pork. You don't have to do this but what the heck.

Make sure to remove the membrane from the back of the baby back ribs. It's totally disgusting but definitely the right thing to do. Then use the rub from the recipe I shared last week. Click here for rub recipe.


Cook the ribs for at least 4 hours at 200 to 220 degrees. The longer you cook the more tender and the more smokey flavor you get.

What do you like to do in your spare time/on weekends?

Yesterday we talked about how much we work and the long commute, so today let's discuss spare time.

What do you like to do in your spare time/on weekends?


It goes without saying that I love to write. But beyond that there are lots of things I like to do in my spare time.

I get up on the weekends and go have breakfast. On most Saturdays, I usually go meet a small group of friends, the'breakfast club' at our favorite bagel shop. On Sundays, I tend to keep to myself and hang out where I can write for a good couple of hours.

Now that spring has finally arrived, I enjoy being outside as much as possible. So after I have breakfast with friends or do a little writing, I go home and change into outdoor attire. That means clothes I can get dirty. REALLY dirty.

I ALWAYS wear a baseball cap. Most of the time it's a Boston Sox cap, but since I returned from Ireland I am wearing my green Ireland hat. Yup, that's me beneath that green cap.







Once I'm dressed for dirt, I head outside with my CD player and several CDs and then I dig in. Literally. I will plant flowers or snip the dead heads, but more than likely I am finding something I can do that will add color to the yard. Like my little crocuses that have come up. Soon the tulips will be blooming and I will have a ton of color. I cannot wait!







A year ago, I saw this idea for a firepit at Lowe's, but never got around to building one. Last weekend, I finally took the bull by the horn and went for it. I borrowed my neighbors' green machine truck, now known as the shaggin' wagon and found someone at the store who knew how to build the firepit. I got the stones loaded, picked up the metal firepit thingy then drove home and voila! About an hour later, with the help of some friends, I had a firepit.

If I'm not getting dirty by digging something up then I am enjoying my deck and a good beer or bottle of champagne. Yeah, I'm weird like that. I don't need a reason to drink champagne.

I like just soaking in the sun, especially after 6 months of cold, icky white fluffy stuff, and gray skies. On a really good day you will catch me writing on my deck, listening to a good music CD, and the lyrical sound of the old wooden roller coaster with screaming kids in the background.

Toss in a few friends and a cookout and you have a perfect day. Well, maybe a baseball game would kick the day over the top, but that's pretty dang sweet for my free time.

What about you?

Two days of sun equals lots of garden work

After nine straight days of work and lots of icky rainy weather, I finally got to play in the sun. Yippee!

You'll notice the picture to the left of my two cats, Mischief and Mayhem. Yup, that's them watching me do all the hard work while they chill out in the window. Lucky little buggers!

But, all the work in the yard was well worth it. After 335 pavers, I have a garden border.
What do you think?

I still have one section around the backside of the old apple tree, but that's it. That's also for another warm weekend. My last yard task for this year is to clean up along my rock wall so I can plant flowers. There is a lot of rock wall. :-)


My neighbor made me the sign in front of the tree that says WELCOME. I'm still waiting on her to paint me a sign that says AUTHOR.

Weekend Over

Ahh! The weekend is over. Did you get to enjoy some of the spring weather? Or did you stay indoors and write all weekend? HA!

Saturday I fought with my love scene off and on. Then the whole chapter ended up longer than anticipated. But, my editor will like that. And dad, minus the red marks, liked the chapter so that's cool.

I spent several hours Sunday doing outdoor clean up. I trimmed a bunch of stuff, moved leaves that I didn't get to in the fall, and saw tulips, pansies, and primrose all coming back up. Hoping for fruit on my trees this year.

After all that fresh air, I came inside and wrote. I actually managed to write about four pages in the next chapter and am hoping to get it finished today so I can take it and the love scene to critique tomorrow.