Thursday, October 8, 2009

Aloha Spare Ribs

I thought I would share my recipe for Aloha Spare Ribs. I like Country Style Pork Ribs the best. They're cut so they have lots of meat on them.



3 lbs. Country Style Pork Ribs
1 envelope dry onion soup
1/4 tsp pepper
Water to cover half way

Sauce:
1/2 C diced onion
1/2 sliced green pepper
1/3 C vinegar
1-20 0z can of pineapple tidbits undrained
1-15 oz can of tomatoe sauce
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
1/4 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp dry mustard

Bake ribs in covered roaster at 350 degrees
for 1 1/4 hour. Drainoff liquid. Add sauce and
continue baking for 45-50 minutes longer. Basting
a couple of times.

Ummm, Yummm, as Rachel says, just let me eat
the sauce!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

What's for Supper?

After watching Julie and Julia(which I enjoyed thoroughly), I have thought about doing a "What's for Supper?" Blog. When Pat Link worked here, that was one of things we would say to each other toward the end of the day. We would get ideas and recipes from each other. I love to cook and that was actually my dream, to be a Home Ec Major and work in the Better Homes and Garden test kitchen. Sad to say, I did not graduate from Iowa State, and ended up in an office for the last 26 years. C'est la vie. Coulda Woulda Shoulda.

So here I go - What's for Supper? Yesterday I put some not-such-high-quality beef ribs with onion soup in the oven (pork ribs much better) and when I came home, drained off the broth and made Aloha Spare Ribs added to that we had garlic mashed potatoes (amazingly enough, yes, real potatoes) and green beans with mushroom soup and ff onions. TIP: Ever since Rachel got me this gadget from pampered chef to chop up my hamberger, I found that it works really slick at making chunky garlic mashed potatoes.

Tonight??? Meatballs in mushroom soup w/sour cream over noodles and a lettuce salad.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Cash for clunkers - One Way Willie


In June we traded in our 2007 Impala for a 2008 Toyota Sienna van. What? Yep, the Grandma Mobile. Laugh all you want - I love it. Our whole family went to the Dells on a very cold weekend in July and Chad and Rachel comfortably rode with us. But the story does not end there. Less than a month later "Cash for Clunkers" came out. Rats. Go figure. We have several clunkers that would qualify for the $4500, but you still have to buy a new vehicle.


We tried to find a 3/4 ton truck, but Charlie did not want to spend the money. Sooooooo, two months old and we traded in our clunker and van for a 2010 Sienna. Call us crazy. Don't know that we came out smelling like a rose on the deal - but the clunker which we called One Way Willie (no reverse) is no longer sitting back by the grain bins. The story of getting this clunker to Des Moines is a good one. Another time.

This is not a corn maze


Almost a month ago, one of our landlords came to the house all upset. "Did you see - someone drove thru your corn last night. " So Charlie went to check it out. No, this is not a corn maze- well I guess it is in a sense. Charlie talked to the neighbor who said, I don't know who it was, but it was a loud little pickup that went barreling thru the yard around 11PM. Hmmmm. Our other neighbor, who has no driver's license because of his drinking problem, has a loud little pickup. So Charlie went to check it out and sure enough his pickup had corn stalks still underneath the truck and some soybeans, too. That's not good. So Charlie got a measuring wheel and measured off around 2000+ feet by 9 feet of our Iowa gold mowed down. He took the keys out of the pickup and told his boss to have him come talk to Charlie after work. He did and he found out that having fun is expensive. But he is making payments weekly, and we still have his keys and truck.

Pigtucky Derby




While we were in Omaha we took in the Pumpkin Farm on opening day. We went to the Pigtucky Derby and Kaylee was chosen to go up and "root" on the pig with the pink bandana and she won. The prize - A Pig Nose. Made Grandpa Charlie proud.

Lauryn is 2!



Blow out the candle Lauryn. And she huffed

she puffed and finally blew that candle out!


Sunday, October 4, 2009


I have alot of catching up to do. Lauryn turned 2 a couple of weeks ago and she is a dolly. She loves "dress up", and usually is running around with a Princess dress on.


Ok, this is my first posting, and I will update you on our exciting on the farm life. It is harvest time and the rain is a slow'n Charlie down. He has no problem finding other things to do. If we spent the rest of our living days going thru all the "junk" we have accumultaed, we would have to live out to the full 120 years! Brenda keeps telling me - Mom, please don't leave us(the kids) with this mess to clean up. Hmmmmm. Probably will.


Tonight we made our weekly trek to Newton to visit my Dad in the nursing home. He will be 90 in December. (Need to plan a party for that) He is nearly blind and gets very disoriented because if he falls asleep and then wakes up, he can't figure out where he is at or what time it is, and there is no one there to ask. His mind is good, but I am afraid that the little contact he has thru out the week, his inability to walk and use his hands, and blindness is really taking a toll on him.