There are few things in this world that can make me scream with terror and excitement like a little kid. This is one of them…
We’re going to Cedar Point this weekend!!
Land of the tallest, scariest and ridiculously fun roller coasters in the world (not to mention some AMAZING people watching, elephant ears and water rides to boot). I’m giddy with excitement!
Hope you all have an exhilarating weekend too. :)
Hey guys! Apologies for being MIA. Work is going to be crazy hectic these next few weeks, so I may not be able to post as often as I’d like. Hang in there with me!
My colleague, friend and former guest writer, Thi recently shot her engagement session with the Talented Becky Hill of Becky Hill Photography and I adore how their photos turned out! You can really see their personalities shine through with the locations, props and smiles.
Aren’t they an adorable couple? I can’t wait to see their wedding pictures when they get hitched this fall. Check out their full engagement session here.
Oh, and I love that yellow dress, Thi!
One way Luke and I are different is in our desire to socialize.
Luke would be perfectly happy to stay home all weekend and relax, while I feel the urge to go out and spend time with friends. Luke has a small group of friends he’s really close to, while I have a larger network of people I try to keep up with.
The problem is, living in a city like Chicago (where half of my hometown migrated to after college) means I have A LOT of friends to hang out with (I know, tough problem, huh!). Most times I love having so many options of things to do and people to see, but occasionally I start feeling stretched too thin.
With busy jobs, relationships, vacations ect its becoming nearly impossible to get all my friends together in one place, which makes it hard to maintain meaningful relationships with EVERYONE.
I’m starting to feel like I’m foregoing strong relationships with my closest friends to be “sort of” friends with a lot of people.
What do you think, is it better to be friends with a lot of people or have a close-knit group of core friends?
How do you keep up with the network of people who are important to you?
I am a HUGE ribs fan. We eat them at least once a month in the summer following my dad’s technique for slow braising and then char-grilling. There really isn’t a more flavorful, tender piece of meat in my book.
Luke woke up early on Saturday and picked up two gorgeous racks of pork ribs at the farmer’s market. This is a good 5 lbs of ribs, which embarrassingly enough, we finished between three of us!
I like my ribs spicy, so I made a great rub that added some zing then spread it all over the uncooked ribs.
Here’s the rub recipe adapted from a paleo blog I read:
– 3 Tbsp paprika
– 1 Tbsp onion powder
– 1 Tbsp garlic powder
– 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
– 1/2 tsp cinnamon
– lots of fresh ground pepper
– 2 tblsp olive oil
I put the rubbed ribs in the fridge to let the flavors sit while I made some homemade BBQ sauce. I can’t stand how sweet store-bought BBQ sauce is, so I decided to make a sugar-free sauce myself from a recipe I found on Son of Grok, another paleo blog I follow.
This sauce is super simple and tastes amazing. There’s so much depth and spiciness to it and it has a thick texture to really coat whatever meat you use it with.
To make it, just combine all the ingredients below and simmer for 25 minutes until thick.
Ingredients:
– 1 6oz can tomato paste (preferable organic)
– 1 to 1.5 cups of beef stock (look for low or no salt added)
– 3 Cloves Garlic minced
– .5 of an onion minced
– 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
– 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
– 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
– 1 teaspoon sea salt
– 2 tablespoons chili powder
Yum! This sauce has quickly become a staple in our fridge. I highly recommend you try it out.
So now that my ribs are rubbed and sauced, I placed them on a 1 inch deep cookie sheet and wrapped them in foil.
Then I baked them in a 325 degree oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until the bones are clearly showing. I love this method of cooking ribs because the meat gets so incredibly tender and the house smells amazing.
To finish them off, Luke fired up the grill to medium/high heat and charred the ribs for 5-7 minutes.
I served the ribs with spicy green beans (cayenne pepper) and sweet potato fries.
This was an AWESOME meal to end the weekend. My mouth it watering just thinking about it!