Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Hope Santa brought everything from your list also hope that you all get to enjoy a wonderful day filled with family, fun and plenty of food :)

And maybe a nice little nap ;)

Big Green Egg Beef Back Ribs Rub and Recipe

Why oh why did we wait so long to get you, Big Green Egg? You are pure BBQ magic ;)

Now for the Beef Back Ribs!!

These ribs were "slap yo' momma" good! They were full of flavor and the thick layer of meat on the bones gave you something to sink your teeth into.

We started these the day before by removing the thick layer of membrane on the bone side of the ribs. Prepared the rub and gave them a coat and then stuck them back in the fridge to absorb the flavors.

Here is the rub I used:

2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp chili powder
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp black pepper
1/2 tbspcayenne pepper
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp course sea salt
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon

These ribs take anywhere from 4-8 hours so plan accordingly.

At around 10 AM we took the ribs out and set them on the counter so they could get to room temp. 

At 11 AM we started up the Big Green Egg to get it holding steady at 250 degrees. This turned out to be quite difficult for us, we didn't get the ribs in until after 12:30 that's how difficult it was. We made the mistake of letting the charcoal get too hot so we spent a lot of time getting the temperature back down again. 

After doing some research we learned we should have stopped (closed the vents up) the heat from going up so high because it takes a while to cool it back down after it burns too hot. Now we know for next time because there WILL be a next time for these ribs.

Finally got it stable at 250 degrees so we added some apple smoke chips and set the grill up to put the ribs in.

Going in...

Now you have to let this smoke for 2 hours before opening the dome. This was especially hard for my husband who is a huge flipper of meats on the grill.

2 hours later we opened 'er up and sprayed a mixture of worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, olive oil and the leftover rub on the ribs.

We also rotated the rack around

Closed the lid and set the timer for another hour when we would need to spray them down again.

We sprayed them down every hour after that initial 2 hour of no opening the egg until the ribs were 30 minutes from being done. We determined they were done but sort of pulling the rib rack apart at the bone, once it pulled easily we knew it was time. 

At the 30 minute until finish mark, we applied some BBQ sauce, we used Bub-ba-Q sweet sauce that we had purchased the first time we ate at Bub-ba-Q, no fear though you can buy it online. Sauce we used

As you can see it's now dark out. These smoked for a total of 6 hours and then an additional 30 minutes after we added the BBQ sauce.

We took them off the grill at the 6 1/2 hour mark and let them sit at room temperature for another 15 minutes before digging in, PURE TORTURE, I tell you ;)

Let's eat!!!

Our next adventure on The Big Green Egg is going to be pizza, Margherita Pizza to be exact. Will let you know how that goes!!

Santa came early! Now we're cooking on the Big Green Egg

The hubby has been asking Mrs Claus for something called a Big Green Egg for 5 years now. 

Mrs Claus finally found an unbelievable deal on one and was able to surprise her hubby with his Christmas wish a few weeks early. 

Now Mrs Claus is free from cooking dinner on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights! 

What a win for Mrs. Claus ;)

What is a Big Green Egg you ask? The answer in their words

Laymans AKA my terms would be: A magic ceramic green egg shaped grill/smoker/oven thingy that makes meats/veggies turn into mouth watering goodness. 

How I know this without owning one, you wonder? Well we've made our way through many a BBQ competition and have dined at numerous BBQ restaurants where so much deliciousness has been devoured, much of it made on the Big Green Egg. I think the hubby was trying to convince me that it should make it to the top of his Christmas list. 
For 5 years.

But hey, I wasn't complaining being forced to dine on some world famous BBQ

First up on the menu?

How about a little Sweet Samantha Sandwich??

No? Need something lower Carbs?

Tasty Thomas Legs?

Not enough Thyme?

OK, OK I've got it!! Hot Dogs?? Specially delivered from Germany.

What?!? You're allergic? 

Well I'm running out of options here, hmmm, what else is in the kitchen? 

We have some Beef Back Ribs?

That'll work? Great! See you tomorrow with the full recipe and finished pictures (this is just 2 hours in)

-Danielle

Ugly Basement Stairs update

The stairs aren't completely finished yet but they sure did look better for company.

The problem with needing to paint stairs is trying to find an entire 24 hours that they won't be walked on.

With company coming and staying in the basement it just wasn't feasible to paint before they arrived so that's my project this week.

BUT I had to share the progress because it's so amazing!!

Okay so here's what I DIDN'T want them to see

Not pretty!!

Look at all the huge gaps

So I went to Lowes and bought a 1/4 in 4'x8' sheet of plywood that was on clearance for $10.77 and a 1/4 in 4'x8' sheet of beadboard for $19.88

I then searched the trim section for a piece of trim that was 1 3/4 inch thick as that was the thickness of  the tread after adding the 1/4" plywood. It was the biggest purchase at $44

I found 1 that would work (talk about L-U-C-K-Y)

Also purchased Stop trim for the bottom piece of trim where the tread meets the riser. Cost for that trim was just under $25

I first attached the beadboard with trim adhesive

Looking better already!!

Next step was to paint the plywood with some gripper paint. I knew that I was going to have to cover the entire staircase in paint so used the clearance paint floor paint I found while shopping. Has an additive in it that makes it rough so it's not slippery.

It was on clearance for $8.00 and already had the gripper mixed in so I was sold ;)

While the new treads were drying I used the miter saw to cut each piece of chair rail and stop trim to fit.

I then applied adhesive to the back side of the plywood, chair rail and stop trim. I used subfloor adhesive for the plywood that was going to be the tread and trim adhesive for the trim pieces.

Using the nail gun I secured the new tread, chair rail trim and the beadboard risers in place. I only used the adhesive on the stop trim as it's so thin I didn't want to risk splitting in anywhere.

I worked my way down from the top but that was just how it happened, I think either way would work just fine.

As you can see there are still gaps.

Nothing a little caulk can't help

Now I still need to paint, add trim to the ledge and a handrail but....

It's so much better than:

Don't you think??

The plan is to paint them all white but then I spied a few pictures recently (on pinterest of course) with a painted runner and now I'm not so sure what to do. 

What do you think? 

All white or add a fun color with a runner??

Total cost so far: $ 107.65

plywood $10.77
beadboard $19.88
chair rail $44
stop trim $25
paint $8