Barbeque Ribs and a Big Surprise

The plan was simple, Joe would tell his dad he was coming over for breakfast and to watch football.  Joe would pick up the blond boy and the DIL from the airport at 1:30 a.m., bring them to our house in the next morning, and Dave would be surprised.  It was a good plan, and then Dave got in the way.

I have been planning with the blond boy and the DIL since July to bring them home over the holidays.  Because of work schedules, they couldn't come home over Christmas, but they could over Thanksgiving.  We set the plan in motion and I worked very hard not to give it away.

The arrival morning finally arrived.  The blond boy and I were texting each other, Dave had come downstairs to build a fire and was dozing on the sofa.  It was a quiet, lazy morning.  But then it was getting close to the time the kids would walk in.  I wanted Dave awake so I started with, "Can I get you some coffee?" I think I asked that about 19 times, hoping he would sit up and start to wake up.  That didn't work.

Then I tried, "The fire needs more wood." nothing, then "which packages are the moose breakfast sausage and which are the Italian sausage?" (I wanted sausage for the kids for breakfast, he had pulled out ham the night before).  He told me which was which when I told him we were going to have spaghetti for dinner, and I went out and grabbed the breakfast sausage for the kids and plopped it in a bowl of warm water in the sink to start to thaw.  After I unloaded the dishwasher REALLY LOUDLY, he finally got up to get a cup of coffee.  I was in the other room texting the blond boy.

"Toni, you got the wrong sausage, this is breakfast sausage." he grumbled.
"Oh, O.K., I'll switch it out." I replied, hurrying to the kitchen and hiding my phone.
"I've got it." he said half way to the freezer in the garage.

And then he wasn't coming back.

The blond boy and the DIL were parked at the side of the house in my brother-in-law's truck.  Dave saw the truck through the window and wondered why it was there. (My brother-in-law is in Hawaii right now)  He walked outside to see who was in the truck so the kids jumped out and said, "Surprise, Merry Christmas!"

  His actual response was, "What are you doing here?"  He wasn't quite awake yet.  We had to explain to him, several times, we were surprising him for the holiday and this was his Christmas present.  About 1 1/2 hours later and several cups of coffee, he was finally awake enough to fully appreciate what was going on. Not the tearful reunion we had been hoping for.

So after months of planning, hiding, lying, and plotting, we did surprise him.  Feel very sorry for all the people who have to work with me ( and I do apologize, I just couldn't help talking about it at work, I couldn't talk about it at home).

At one point, about two weeks ago, Dave asked if I was getting a headache I was just too quiet!  I was quiet because I had all these things to get done before the kids came and I didn't want to blurt and blow it.  Oh, it was painful.

So, they are here, it was a surprise, and we had a wonderful day visiting and ended the evening with a delicious meal and a family favorite, Barbeque Ribs.  During dinner, looking around the table at the blond boy, the DIL and two of their friends that stopped by, we did get the waterworks from Dave we were hoping for earlier in the day.

These ribs are one of the most highly requested meal from the boys.  We will be having these while the curly haired boy and the baby boy are home too.  They are baked slowly to make them tender, then finished with smoke and this homemade barbeque sauce.  Even at -20, these are worth heating up the grill.

Baby Back Ribs
I figure 1 rack of ribs per 2 people

3 racks of baby back ribs
3 Tbsp. executive chef meat seasoning, or your favorite steak rub

 Preheat oven to 300°F.
Pull the membrane off the back side of the ribs. Place the rack of ribs on a double layer of aluminum foil.  Sprinkle 1 Tbsp. steak seasoning on meat side of ribs.  Wrap tightly in foil. Repeat with all racks.
Place foil wrapped ribs on a large cookie sheet to catch any drips (this is the most important step, trust me on this).
Bake for 3 hours.
Remove foil wrapped ribs, cut into sections of 2 or 3 bones each.  Place on heated grill with smoking wood chip box if desired.  Grill for 30 minutes with smoke and layer on favorite sauce over indirect heat. Repeat saucing every 10-15 minutes while smoking.

Serves 6

November 20, 2012   Daylight 5 hours, 41 minutes, 14 seconds   Temp. H -8/L -26 °F