slow roasted mango ribs

Put on your fat pants people... it's ribs time!!! These ribs are my secret weapon. They are what the internet meme MOAR! was created for. I can impress anybody with them, foodie or not. In fact, that is one of the things I love most about cooking. When you make something that is so hands down awesome that the conversation at a dinner party takes a back seat to French bulldog style snuffling, you can't help but feel pretty good about it. My parents were behaviorists in the 80s, so I am very susceptible to this kind of positive reinforcement.

They key to making awesome ribs is to cook them slowly. Very slowly. That's how you'll get them to fall off the bone and melt in your mouth. I usually make roughly half this recipe (which is enough to serve four people, but only three when you're dealing with some of the male appetites I deal with). This time I was serving an additional male appetite, I made the full recipe and they were slightly less tender than before. I also realised today, as I consulted the recipe to do this post, that I'd forgotten the orange juice this time around, so perhaps that had something to do with it. Whoops. No worries though, I've made this recipe countless times...

pulled pork with bourbon orange coriander barbecue sauce

One thing that is awesome about Quebec is the weather. I know a lot of people will disagree with me. They don't like feels like 40 summers and -30 winters. They don't like Breakfast at Tiffany's rainstorms. I can't say I would always enjoy this weather. For example, I don't like the heat unless I literally don't have to do anything aside from sipping a glass of cold lemonade on the balcony with a good book. I don't care for -30 temperatures when I'm standing at a bus stop. I could do without Breakfast at Tiffany's rainstorms when I'm on my way home from work and wearing flats. That being said, the weather here is interesting. There is nothing 'blah' about it. Someone once said to me that the weather here forces you to change up your routines. It definitely does, and that's such a good thing!

Today we had a Breakfast at Tiffany's rainstorm. This was the perfect time for (leftover) comfort food. Over the weekend I turned to Joy the Baker's bourbon orange coriander barbecue sauce. I was intrigued from the moment I first clapped eyes on her tantalizing photos. I was also hankering for pulled pork, so I decided to throw the two together because, why not?

spicy peanut sesame noodles

 

Welcome to my first post from my brand spanking new computer. Woohooo! There were some scary times in the squirrel household this week. Nobody likes the sound of a four year old laptop's hard drive clicking. Luckily I was able to salvage my data - tv series, music and some memorable pictures - and they're all safe and secure on my new MacBook Pro. Badaba ba ba! I'm loving it.

Buying a computer is not fun. It means (if you're on my side of the fence) that you have to go and brave the Apple Store and feel all the usual levels of Apple Store Rage. In order to give them their requisite $1400, you have to track down a genius and give him or her your name for the waiting list. You then get to wait, totally helpless, while employees wander aimlessly poking at their iPads or help people who came in the store after you did. It's exasperating. Apple's corporate arrogance is like... off the charts. Can they seriously have forgotten where they were 15 years ago?!

Unexpected expenses (especially so soon after a trip to New York City) mean that this squirrel is eating on the cheap for the foreseeable future. The first meal heralding my new age of poverty was spicy peanut sesame noodles. Cheap and filling and good!

buttermilk scones with crispy pancetta and cheddar

These scones have so many things going for them. Fancy bacon. Extra old cheddar. Butter. Flakiness and gooeyness. Need I go on? In all seriousness, I can't imagine anyone (vegetarians and vegans aside) resisting such a luxurious once-in-a-while treat.

I was inspired to make these by a recipe I found in the Alice's Tea Cup cookbook. Sadly, that recipe turned out to be disastrous; I remember feeling skeptical at the idea of using melted butter in scones. Doesn't that traditional flaky scone texture come from cold butter? The second time around, I ended up using an old standby scone recipe in Joy of Cooking and just adding in the pancetta and cheddar. The result was spectacular. Rich buttery texture, gooey cheese cavities, and a little bit of salty bacon crunch.

biscuit blackberry shortcakes with vanilla bean custard

 

I can't hardly believe that we're approaching the end of summer. It's gone by so fast. Very soon, the temperature will drop drastically, and after approximately one month of autumn, we'll be back in a winter wonderland. Casual summer at work will end. Reading in the park will end. Cicadas will end. Iced coffees will end. Summer dresses will end. flip flops will end. Fruit will end. Barbeques will end. All of these things give me the sad face.

Speaking of barbeques, there is no better reason to concoct a delicious dessert than a barbeque. Sadly, as we do not have a barbeque, we have to rely on others for our deliciously charred meats and veggies, so we bribe our potential hosts with the promise of a lovingly prepared homemade dessert.

classic cheese and onion quiche

Quiche is perfect Fathers Day fare. It feels a little bit gourmet. It gives off the impression that one has slaved for hours in the kitchen. It's rich and tasty. It is full of things that everybody loves - butter, cheese, cream and eggs.  I'm going to let you in on a little secret: quiche is a snap. Even when you make the crust yourself. It's almost idiot proof.

In fact, it's so easy that I decided to bake a quiche for my dad because I knew I could pull it off in just over an hour, baking time included. This meant there would be plenty more time for me to create other delectables with which he would be suitably impressed. This was no small occasion. My dad lives 3700 kilometres from me, and if he's coming over for lunch on Fathers Day, it's kind of a big deal.