I had such a great day yesterday!  First of all, it was nice outside, even if it was on the cool side!

After breakfast Hannah and I met up with my Mom at the local Goodwill, then hit up Trader Joe’s.  I went in to pick up some kind of dip as an appetizer, and ended up spending $4!  One product I will definitely be using this week:

Has anyone tried this before?

We also hit up the Entenmann’s outlet – check out the price of Thomas brand bagel thins!

24 pack for only $1.29! I just paid $3.99 for six at my local supermarket!

My Mom had requested ribs for dinner and we were happy to oblige!  Great ribs start out with a great rub!

We adapted this from Cook’s Illustrated – we left out the onion powder and the allspice.   We left in the allspice one time and it made the ribs taste awful!

Rib Rub (printer friendly version)

  • 1 tablespoon dry mustard
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
  • 1.5 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1.5 teaspoons celery salt
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

We’ve discovered the secret to fall off the bone tender ribs.  After applying the dry rub, wrap really well in foil.  Place on a rack over a cookie sheet in your oven at 240 degrees.  Place a heavy skillet underneath the ribs and keep it full of water.  This helps to steam the ribs as they cook.  Cook for 4 hours.  Remove, apply bbq sauce and finish them off on the grill.

I had a Georgia mustard bbq sauce on mine – nice and mustardy and vinegary! 😀  And my daughter, the vegetarian?

she was a flexatarian yeseterday! she ate 4 ribs!

They weren’t good at all! 😀

And Tony made a great pasta salad with Paul Newman’s light balsamic dressing.  We loved the addition of edamame in this!  There is no real recipe – its 1 box of rotini pasta cooked, some chopped salami, chopped fresh mozzarella, red pepper, orange pepper, edamame and right before serving, about 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese is tossed together.

And Hannah may have gone to Portillo’s to buy a slice of chocolate cake – my Mom had never tried it!  Not gonna lie, I had a few bites too!

Thanks for coming over Mom!

Even though I am 5.2" tall - I always feel tall next to my Momma!

After my Mom left, we hung outside for a while – but it got cold!

Tony relaxing with a cigar! 😀

Until it got too cold!

Thanks to Hannah and Tony for a great Mother’s Day!  😀

I love you Hannah!

And guess what??  Hannah ditched today for senior ditch day! Even though that may jeopardize her almost perfect attendance – today is only the second day of her whole high school career she’s missed school!  When I called to let them know she was “sick” the message box was already full!  I had to send an email to her counselor!  I think she is planning on going to Chicago with friends today – but she’s still sleeping, so I’ll find out later!

Thanks for all the Momma Day wishes yesterday 😀

Alright – off to get my breakfast and lunch put together – have a great Monday! 😀