Outdoor Entertaining

Outdoor Recipes: BBQ Ribs

The Best BBQ Ribs

The Best Ribs are only an opinion

The beauty of cooking is being able to change, add to or take away from any recipe and create a recipe that in your mind at least is the very best. Isn’t the best recipe for anything only an opinion? Even if you get several others or even crowds of others to agree with you, it’s still just a group of people whose opinions are in agreement. All I’m trying to say is there is no ONE single recipe that can claim the ever elusive title of THE BEST.

Choosing the Best BBQ Ribs

Here again the choice is yours, depending on which is best suited to you. There are baby back ribs, also referred to as back ribs or loin ribs. These are generally between 3 inches at one end up to 6 inches in length at the other end. The rack contains usually no less than 8 ribs and up to no more than 15 ribs. They contain less fat and are meatier than spare ribs. They are cut from the rib cage which is closest to the back bone. The spare ribs come from the belly side of the rib cage. Starting from the breast bone up to where the ribs were cut for the baby back ribs. They are longer in length and have more bone than meat as well as more fat. Both cuts of ribs make very good BBQ ribs. It’s just a choice of preference.

How to Cook BBQ Ribs

There are those who would have you think in order for your BBQ ribs to be considered as the best BBQ ribs they need to be falling off the

Just A Personel Preference

bones. Furthermore they would have you believe they need to be boiled first in order for you to achieve this. I say hogwash (that’s just my opinion). I think that boiling your ribs removes a lot of the flavor and leaves it in the water, from which you could probably make a pretty good soup. Having the meat falling off the bone can also be accomplished by slow roasting the ribs. This allows the flavors to be contained in the meat and the marinade, spice rub or BBQ sauce enhances that flavor. My personal preference for cooking BBQ ribs is to moderately season the ribs then using a med high heat brown and mark the ribs on the grill. I would then transfer them to a low sided oven pan (used to prevent a flame flare up), baste both sides, reduce the heat to medium low and continue roasting and basting, with the lid closed until tender. I’ve included a link here for the top ten BBQ rib rubs hoping one of them will suite your preference. You can always make up one of your own. Sometimes I like to add some smoke to the cooking process. Here again there are many different types of woods as well as techniques. While doing research for this article I found one of the most informative sites for

Homemade sauce adds that special touch

barbequing just about anything. Here’s a link to their section on using wood smoke.

How to Make BBQ Sauce

Grabbing that favorite bottle of BBQ sauce from the grocery store is ok when you’re in a hurry, but if you really want to impress your friends find a BBQ sauce that you feel comfortable making yourself and imparts your favorite BBQ flavors. Putting together a BBQ sauce recipe can be quite easy, doesn’t require a lot of time to make and can be made in advance. One of my favorite places to go for recipes is ehow.com. So I encourage you to check out their link. I’d also like to provide a link to the top ten BBQ sauce recipes.

Video on How to Make BBQ Sauce

Video on How to Skin and Trim BBQ Ribs

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Family Activities: Father’s Day

When is Father’s Day?

Father Knows Best

Did you know the idea for Father’s Day was first proposed in 1909 and first celebrated in 1910 in Spokane, Washington as well as other various towns and cities across America. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea for a national Father’s Day, but it wasn’t until 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3^rd Sunday of June as Father’s Day.

The Meaning of Father’s Day

Developing That Special Relationship

Do you know the difference between a father and a dad? Some would say that any man can be a father but it takes a special man to be a Dad. Is your Dad the kind of man who is loving and kind? Does he often know what’s on your mind? Is he someone who listens and then makes suggestions? Does he celebrate your triumphs, but still take the time to be patient, helpful and strong when things do go wrong? I’d say this is the kind of father who truly is a Dad. Now is the time to start thinking about how we will celebrate this Father’s Day with our Dads.

Father’s Day Cards and Poems

A Special gift for Daddy

It’s always special to receive a homemade card from your kids. It just has so much more meaning because you know they actually took the time to think about dad while they were making the card. If you’re not quite sure on how to help the kids get started here’s a link to Kaboose.com where they have loads of Father’s Day card ideas. If you’d like to add a special Father’s Day poem in the card here’s a link for some special Father’s day poems and quotes.

Father’s Day Ideas

Fond Memories That Last a Lifetime

Father’s Day should be all about spending time with dad letting him know how much we love him and appreciate all the things he does for us year round. There are a kazillion things we could to show our appreciation, but what is the single most favorite way your dad likes to relax. Maybe instead of trying to jam a whole bunch of things into one day, you could just focus on some of his favorite food and his favorite pass time. Here’s a list of the top 10 things to do on fathers day maybe one of them will be right for your dad. Some dad’s might like to spend some quality time with teaching his children something new or something about him they didn’t know yet. So here’s a top 10 list of things for dad to do with the kids. It works both ways doesn’t it? If your make your dad feel special, or dad if you make the kids feel special you’re sure to have a wonderful day.

Father’s Day Card Making Video

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Outdoor Decorating: Outdoor Furniture

Garden and Patio Furniture

Lounging In The Garden

It’s that time of year when our families wants to spend time relaxing and enjoying the outdoors. Having good quality outdoor furniture that is comfortable, weather resistant and cool to sit in are some of the qualities one would consider when purchasing garden and patio furniture. In the coming months we’ll discuss several types of furniture, for now I’d like to talk about cedar outdoor furniture.

Red Cedar Attributes

The popularity of western red cedar as a material used for the construction of garden and patio

Great For Entertaining

furniture continues to be on the rise. This is so because of the many attributes of western red cedar. Some of the attributes of western red cedar which make it ideal for outdoor furniture are the natural oils it contains. These oils act as a natural preservative helping the wood to resist insect infestation as well as decay and rot due to weather conditions. Western red cedar remains subtly aromatic, and the characteristic fragrance of cedar add another dimension to your cedar outdoor furniture. Properly finished and maintained, western red cedar ages gracefully, is visually appealing, blending with the harmony of the natural landscape and will endure for many years.

Cedar Outdoor Furniture

Swings Aren't Just For Grandparents Anymore

Perhaps you are thinking about starting a collection of garden and patio furniture and you’d like to consider cedar outdoor furniture for that purpose, but aren’t quite sure where to start. A suggestion would be to select an area such as the patio and think about the types of occasions your family would most enjoy. Perhaps a cedar picnic table would be the place to start and then add other pieces of furniture as you go along. There are several areas where one might begin. A garden or patio swing might be the piece you’re looking for. The important thing to remember is looking for what your family will use the most, and get the most enjoyment from. Then you’ll know where to begin.

Outdoor Recipes: Burger Recipes

Burgers! Burgers! Burgers!

The variations are endless

If burgers aren’t at the top of the list of all American food I don’t know what is. There are so many different ways to make the traditional burger it’s unbelievable. Then when you consider all the variations you could literally have a burger every night for dinner and at the end of a year you still wouldn’t have exhausted all the burger recipes available.

How To Grill The Best Burger

It all starts with the meat. Choosing the best ground beef for your burgers starts with the fat content.

Grilling it right is part of what makes it the best burger

What I mean by that is the ratio of lean meat to fat. If you choose a ratio that is to lean then your burgers will be dry and less flavorful. On the other hand if there is too much fat then your burger will be overly greasy. The best ratio for burgers is 85/15, that means 85% lean meat and 15% fat. The next factor would be the type of beef and the grind. Here your best bet would be ground chuck which has been coarsely ground. The next consideration should be the heat of the grill. Optimally your grill should be cleaned and oiled (this ensures the meat won’t stick) and should be heated to a medium high setting. If the grill is to hot your burgers will burnt on the outside and under cooked in the middle. Burgers should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Keeping the lid closed while cooking will aid in reducing the cooking time and keeping the burgers moist.

The Best Burger Recipes

Which Burger Will Be Your Best Burger

Everyone likes to think their recipe is the best, and who could argue with that. Isn’t the decision of which burger recipe is the best only an opinion? Listed below are a slew of burger recipes, you decide which is the best burger recipe, and have a wonderful, fun filled, grilling season with your family and friends.

21 Top Rated Burger Recipes from Epicurious.com

Killer Burger Recipes from Burger Business.com

Venison Burger Recipes from Best Burger Recipes.com

Will It Be This One?

Lamb Burger Recipes from Cooks.com*

Stuffed Burger Recipes from CDKitchen.com

Video for Stuffed Burgers

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Best Burger Recipes.com

Kitchen Daily.com

Serious Eats.com

Delish.com