BLOGGER BLOCK OR LAZINESS ?

After several complains over the past months, my brain is working overtime to find excuses why there have been no new entries in my blog.

Lets see:

First of all, it was summer time and according to the St. Louis paper the hottest since 1934, Which kept most of us inside with full blasting air conditioning.
We also had the world Cup for over a period of 30 days, and of course we could not miss a game.
The heat could not keep us away from our by-weekly or sometime weekly Golf games.
I did not do much cooking for lack of appetite this hot summer, mostly cold stuff.

My favorite food in the summer

I had the privilege and enjoyment to babysit Jacob and Luke a few time during their summer vacation.
But overall, there was really not much activity in the Ackermann household this summer.
All this hardly counts as a good excuse, so it must be blogger block or worse, my Laziness.

Looks like blogger block

Baby sitting, the easy way

I know for sure that I have to do better.

There was actually several events this summer worth mentioning.

We had a great combination party for  Daniels birthday and Windy's master degree graduation an the 29th of May.

Daniel received his corvette

Congratulation

Daniel enjoying his birthday

Windy is happy that college is over

Daniel tests his archery skill

We also celebrated Fathers day at Gina and Daniels with pool party, flank steak cookout and lots of cocktail, inclusive some German liquor they brought with them from there trip to Germany and France.

Great day for a cook out

Grandma and Luke enjoying the pool

Watching world cup by the pool

Brian, Windy and the boys  finely took a family vacation for the first time. They visited Disneyland in Orlando and spend some time on the beach somewhere by Clearwater.

Just last week Daniel, Gina, Eric and Karla vacationed in Cancun for the second time this year. They all come back with a sensational sun tan. (no photos available yet)



My contribution to a sweet tooth an a rainy day:

Pecan diamonds

( simple recipe, hardest part is rolling out the dough)

Linzer dough:
8oz         Butter
6oz         Sugar
1 ea        Egg
5oz         Hazelnuts finally chopped (in food processor)
1/2 tsp    Cinnamon
4 drop    Vanilla
1 tsp       Backing powder
10 oz      Flour
Mix all  ingredients gently and let rest in refrigerator for 20 minutes
Roll out dough and line  a 11x15 sprayed baking sheet
bake for 8 minutes in 350degree oven

Pecan filling;
8oz    Butter
6oz    Brown Sugar
2oz    Sugar
2oz    Honey
2oz    Heavy cream
16oz  Pecans  coarsely chopped
Mix all ingredients except pecans in sauce pan and boil for 3 minutes constantly stirring
add Pecans and pour an to bre baked dough.
bake for 18 minutes  in 350 degree oven.
cut in to diamonds wile still warm.

Now the most exciting news!    Donna and myself  are exactly 2 Weeks away from flying to Switzerland for a few days. We will spend some good time with family and friends and some time in Grindelwald in the middle of the Berner Oberland. We will return sometime in October, (maybe, ha)!

MARTIAL ART MANIA

You heard right.  Martial art craze embraced the Spalding family.  It all started a few months ago with Luke taking classes at the martial art school a few blocks from their home.  Soon Jacob joined him and right after Brian made his debut.  From there it accelerated to 7 days a week with training, practicing, fund raisers, playtime and tournaments.

I personally admire the dedication they put into this Sport, but there is one downside, it has cut tremendously into our time of enjoyment with our grandchildren. This sounds a little selfish, but I guess that's life. 
At this time Luke and Jacob are proud owners of a yellow belt and Brian will test next week to receive his.
2 months ago they went to a tournament in Canada receiving a few medals and 4 weeks ago they had a tournament here in St Louis where their school won the grand price.

Let the tournament begin

Fully concentrated Brian

Ready for action

Gold medal for Luke

Gold medal for Jacob

Car wash fund raiser

Fun Day at 50* Fahrenheit: sliding into mud as team building

a not very happy Jacob

Group picture at Fun Day

Part of Jacobs test to receive his yellow belt

We just got word that Windy will also join them in the practicing of martial art in the near future.

O well, so much for seeing our grand children.

EVERYBODY IS GRILLING

  

  I would like to attempt to help all master grillers arrive at a constant, high quality product.  I am talking about         

Barbecue Pork Ribs

I have tried a lot of barbecue pork ribs prepared entirely on the barbecue grill and you guessed it,  some good, some bad, some barely eatable, but nothing outstanding.

There is a pressure smoker available for commercial use for about $5000, which produces the best ribs in the world !!

This brings me to share my version of cooking delicious ribs and making all the master griller's lives easier.

It takes 90 minutes preparation time and only  20 minutes grilling time.

Mise en place

Baby back ribs

Roasting pan, icing grate (grill rack), aluminum foil

Onion, celery, beer of your favorite flavor ( I recommend Heineken)

Seasoning rub, your choice of barbecue sauce ( I recommend "Sweet Baby Ray`s)

You can buy seasoning rub in any grocery store or you can shine by making your own. (your secret)

I use:     Paprika, black pepper, Jamaican jerk seasoning, very little salt, hacomat, garlic powder, cayenne, chili powder and fresh finely chopped herbs ( rosemary, thyme, cilantro )

You can make a large amount of this rub, just leave out the fresh herbs adding them every time you make ribs or even any kind of roast.

Preparation

1,   Chop onion and celery in large pieces and place in roasting pan

2,   Top with icing grates (grill rack)

3,   Rub ribs and place on top of grate

4,   Pour beer over ribs

5,   Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil

6,   Place in  350 degree oven for 90 minutes

7,   Remove and let cool

Step 1 to 7 can be prepared in the morning or even the night before.

8,   Cover ribs with barbecue sauce and place on low heat charcoal grill for about 10 minutes

      on each side or until barbecue sauce is caramelized.

Serve and enjoy the reaction of your guests.