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As some of you might know, Mike Oldfield finished recording his new studio album at the end of June. So far not a title nor a release date have been provided yet. What is known already is that the album in question has Lee and ace drummer John “J.R.” Robinson playing the rhythm section and that it was recorded in London and Los Angeles (at the Village Recorders) with the inclusion of a gospel choir. Other musicians on the project are Matt Rollings (keyboards) and Michael Thompson (guitar). The album, produced by Steve Lipson, should be the next Mike Oldfield release after the recent September 2 reissues of his 1982-83 albums “Five Miles Out” (in CD/DVD, Deluxe and box set formats) and “Crises” (a five CD box set). It does not escape my attention that in the course of 24-48 hours, I've gone from encouraging someone to be that smile for another, that kind word to make someone's day, to openly cackling at a stranger who called me evil. I suppose the lesson to learn is that while I strive to be one, life often finds me failing. Miserably. I strive to be social. But God, I loved having today completely to myself. I cleaned (not something I generally enjoy but often cathartic). I walked 500 miles ... okay, nearly six, and there was wine and beer in the middle but still .... I finished a book (the end of the Sookie Stackhouse era). I shopped. I cooked for myself. Watched what I wanted when I wanted. I strive to be social but am, in my heart, a selfish hermitess. I strive to be kind but, damn, people piss me off. The title of this blog came from a long-standing greeting that I have with my siblings: "Have I told you lately how much I hate people?" I probably made the wise choice to end it after "lately", eh. Again, selfish hermitess. I strive to be good but find that our definitions of good (yes, plural, there are many definitions of good in our culture) vary to such a degree that I'll always disappoint one faction or another. I'd love to live simply by my Dad's motto of "You can't worry about that shit" (where's that t-shirt), but I'm pretty sure if we coded Mom's DNA, we'd find the original strand, original group of genes that, combined, form the perfect storm of continual apology and "oye vey" chant. I strive to be funny and ... yeah, I mostly succeed at that, at least in my own mind. So I strive and I fail ... comically. My husband's great secret is that he's actually a good cook. A great cook, in point of fact, when properly motivated. To him, cooking is scientific procedure, and he approaches it with the same methodical consistency as he does when running labs in his classroom. He's even got cooking chops, of a sort, having taken foods (or cooking, or home ec, or whatever the PC term is these days) back in high school. Nevertheless, it takes quite a bit to get him excited about cooking. Cooking for a crowd can do it, as can the macho male stereotype of grilling. It is one of the only ways my Mister is stereotypical to his gender. During one of these rare times, searching for a dish to impress, he took Alton Brown's ribs recipe, tweaked the rub, then paired it with a secret sauce recipe we got from a restaurant since closed. The Frankenstein-like recipe stitching worked, so well, in fact, that this is now his signature dish. I felt it needed a wider audience than it currently has, especailly the sauce (until Sawyers rises again, at least): It's vingeagry, but thick, and uses coffee, raisins, and a ton of garlic. Alton's ribs recipe is unimpeachable: he braises in the oven, then finishes on the grill. However, it's not true barbecue. But it does make for a super tender result. Famous James' Ribs with Sawyers "Secret" Sauce Sauce (adapted from Sawyers Gourmet Pancake House) Make it at least a day in advance. This makes, literally, a vat of sauce. It's a restaurant recipe, remember? So plan to freeze at least half when you make it. I like to do this in a crock-pot on a lazy Sunday, but you can do it in a stock pot too. 2 cups brewed coffee 4 cups ketchup 3 cups yellow mustard 1 cup molasses 2 cups apple cider vinegar 5 cups brown sugar 6 tablespoons chili powder 1 teaspoon cinammon 8 cloves garlic, minced 2 cups raisins, chopped A stock pot, very large (6 qt +) saucepan, or 6 quart Crock-Pot Crock-Pot Method. Give yourself 8 hours at home, mostly unattended. Put all the ingredients but the raisins in a slow cooker. Turn cooker on to low, and stir well. Come back and stir every half hour or so until everything is evenly mixed and it starts to get bubbly on the edges. Turn off, add the raisins, stir. Reserve a cup and a half of sauce for the recipe, and freeze the rest. Stovetop method. Give yourself 2 hours, but it won't take quite that long. Put all the ingredients but the raisins in a stock pot large enough to hold it all. Stir well, bring to simmer, turn heat to low. Stir until everything is completely mixed. Turn off, add the raisins, stir. Reserve a cup and a half of sauce for the recipe, and freeze the rest. The rub (Adapted from Who Loves Ya? Baby Back Ribs by Alton Brown) 1 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup kosher salt 1/4 cup tablespoon chili powder 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper 1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle powder 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder 1 Tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning 11/2 teaspoons dried Italian herb mix 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder Put it all in a large container with a tight fitting lid. Break up any big chunks of brown sugar. Cap the lid and shake the ever living heck out of it until well mixed. Shake again just before using. You should have enough for this batch of ribs and the next. The ribs the rub (from above) the sauce (from above) 2 2 pound slabs of baby back ribs a large sheet pan 1 roll of heavy duty aluminum foil basting brush 1 cup white wine 2 Tablespoons vinegar 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1 Tablespoon brown sugar 2 cloves garlic Step 1. The night before. Give yourself a half hour. Combine all ingredients for the braising liquid, then rub your ribs. Move a quarter to a half cup of your rub into a small bowl. This way, if you dip your hand in after touching the ribs, you haven't contaminated all the rub. Lay down a sheet of aluminum foil over the sheet pan large enough to wrap the ribs. Sprinkle rub on both sides of ribs, then rub it in, focusing on the meatiest side. Put the ribs down so that they look like a smiley face or U when you look at them, then wrap with foil, but leave one end open. Put the liquid in, then seal them up. Do the second set of ribs. Let them sit on the sheet pan overnight. Step 2. When you are ready to cook. Give yourself 4 hours between the time you start and the time you eat, mostly unattended. Preheat the oven to 250. Check to make sure the foil packets aren't leaking. If they are, wrap in another layer of foil. Carefully Put ribs in and cook for 3 hours. Remove ribs from the oven. You can hold them here for a day in the fridge if you want to do work in advance, but make sure the ribs come to room temperature before you do the next steps. Open up the foil. Cut them into 2-3 rib pieces. Turn on your broiler or grill. Use the basting brush to coat the ribs with sauce. Broil or grill just until the sauce sticks to the ribs and just barely starts to caramelize. Enjoy with more sauce as you like. New Blog! Friends. Mashed Potatoes and Merlot has officially moved. Welcome to Kristin Eats! www.kristineats.com Enjoy! Posted by Kristin Murdock at Tuesday, September 28, 2010 5 comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookDinner for friends who are not Schmucks. I made dinner for my friends. Sometimes I spend too much money on frivolous things like cropped white skinny jeans and Anthropologie cardigans. Those sometimes are more frequent when my husband is out of town. Retail therapy -- ever heard of it? It works wonders on a lonely wife. When it's just me and I realize I spent my weekly cash flow on things to adorn myself with instead of things to stuff my belly with, I am ok with it until I remember how awesome my friends are to me in my lonely state - taking me to dinner, allowing me to be a temporary "squatter" in their home, inviting me to family-only functions even though I'm technically not a member of their family, and supplying a shoulder to cry on when I'm in my most vulnerable and bummed out state - I decide the economical and nice thing to do for them to say 'thank you' is to make them dinner. And so I did. I made dinner for my friends. These friends are not schmucks. Avocado, tomato, and scallion spread (not to be confused with guacamole) on toasty fresh country bread, sprinkled with a little kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. These last Norwegian summers have been too cold and humid for most of us, and to ensure an adquate dose of sun and summer Enjoy Food & Travel pack up and leave for lovely Spain two weeks in June and July 2013. Gran Versalles**** (Photo courtesy Hotel website) Our last trip to Spain was in 2011, when we stayed for a week in Sitges. We both agreed that that was too little, and this summer we decided that we would stay for at least two weeks. We discovered that air fare had skyrocketed when we started looking for tickets a few weeks ago. But we managed to get reasonably priced fare. We will fly to Madrid with Norwegian Air Shuttle, leaving Oslo Airport 7.40 AM, arriving Copenhagen 8.50 AM. At Kastrup Airport we have a one hour and ten minutes to our flight to Madrid Barajas where we arrive at 1.10 PM. Aparthotel Atenea Calabria *** (Photo: Hotel website) Price paid for two: NOK 3308,- (432 Euros / 565 USD), hardly a rip-off for air fare during high season. We will stay three nights at Gran Versalles****, close to the famous Prado Museum. Our 18 square metre / 193 square feet of the Spanish capital cost us around 304 NOK (40, 5 Euros / 52,80 USD) per person per night. Compared to Norway this is dead cheap. It does not include breakfast. After three nights, we plan to catch the high speed train service from Madrid to Barcelona. The 621 km (386 mile) journey takes less than three hours. I've been to Barcelona several times before, but this time we are excited to stay in a one room apartment with our own kitchen in Aparthotel Athaenea Calabria*** in the Eixample area. The 35 square meter (376 square feet) apartment cost us 375,54 NOK (Euros 50 / 65 USD), including breakfast. I do look forward to do some home cooking in the Catalan capital. After another three nights we head for the beach. The vibrant resort town of Sitges is located a half hour train ride south of Barcelona, and this is a destination I look forward to return to. Last time, we stayed at Hotel Port Sitges Resort, outside the city centre. In spite of the comfort of a spacious two room apartments, we felt isolated from the vibrant night life in the area by the main beach. Now we have booked a double room with balcony at Subur***, located at the beach. In spite of the location, even this hotel is no rip-off. We pay less than NOK 350 (46 Euros / 60 USD) per night. This does not include breakfast, but who cares. There are dozens of reasonably priced breakfast cafes nearby. 8 nights by the beach to be looking forward to, before our return Vueling flight from Barcelona to Oslo. NOK 1957 for two in July is a bargain. Final costs for trip The final cost of air fare and accommodation for two weeks per person is: •Airfare Oslo-Copenhagen-Madrid (Norwegian Air Shuttle): NOK 1654,-, EUR 219,60 (Supersaver.no) •Accommodation Gran Versalles****, Madrid (3 nights): NOK 913,-, EUR 121, 50 (Booking.com) •Accommodation Aparthotel Atenea Calabria*** , Barcelona (3 nights): NOK 1127,-, EUR 150 (Booking.com) •Accommodation Subur, Sitges*** (8 nights): NOK 2794,-, EUR 372,- (Booking.com) •Airfare Barcelona-Oslo (Vueling): NOK 953,50, EUR 130 (Bravofly.no) •TOTAL: NOK 7466,-, EUR 993,-