This was Tuesday, April 30, 2024

I'd like to share a bit of our 'today' with you.  It was a pleasant one. Sometimes Jeanne and I find that we don't sleep quite as well as we would like. Old age seems to do that to a person, but last night we both slept fairly well, and woke up ready to go.  

And many days are just ho-hum. Today was a cut above the rest and so it's a good one to review.

Over our breakfast coffee and smoothie, Jeanne suggested we have some ribs for dinner, and that decision had the effect of ordering the rest of my day. I had purchased the pork ribs a few days ago, imported from the U.S.A. I noticed, and I asked the butcher to cut the long rack into thirds.  I had planned to do them not in the oven, but on the stove top. We don't do ribs very often. They are a special treat and they were on sale besides.  

I had a bottle of beer, two bottles of BBQ sauces, and one of a Filipino spiced vinegar that I particularly like. More about this amazing vinegar later.    

I think that ribs cry out for a carbohydrate side that you can use to extend the savor of the sauce. That side is really good bread, for dipping, and that necessitated a run to Daily Bread, a wonderful bakery housed in an old bank building in Point Chevalier. I am happy to go all that way because the bread is unsurpassed and the buses are free for us old coots to ride. Bus 11W dropped me off just across the street from the bakery.    

I am the proud owner of a tote bag that I've refilled with their bread many, many times. 

I bought two ciabatta (bottom 2 shelves) and a baguette. (top)  

There were other choices as well.

Often when I buy bread in such a place, I am reminded of the days, decades ago, when we would drive to the Huron Mountain Bread Co. in Escanaba or Marquette, Michigan. Not long ago my sister Mary told me that she had stopped in at the Marquette location for a loaf of their sour dough.  Made me jealous. 

You may have noticed that the bottle of vinegar in the picture just above is almost empty.  After I dropped off the bread at home, I headed for Da Hua market to restock. The vinegar is called Suka Pinakurat. 

 Here it is on the shelf.

And here is a closeup of the bottle.  You can see how dark it is. It's coconut vinegar with onions, garlic, chilies, and spices. I'd say medium to hot if you want a level of heat. I use it sparingly because Jeanne doesn't like too much vinegar, but even a little adds a zing.  

Here are my ribs with sauce added. Low and slow was the mantra, whether on a grill, the oven or the stove top.  

Then, it occurred to me that since I had plenty of room in the pot, why not add some other meats as well and turn this into several meals? I could even freeze some if we wanted to.  

Therefore, I added some lamb neck chops and drumsticks a little later in the cooking process.  

After the meat was done, I uncovered the kettle. With Jeanne's blessing, I added a little more Suka P. and some of my homemade hot sauce, to 'enliven it.'  I then allowed the sauce to reduce for a while.  It turned out to be superb, if I do say so myself. Just the right amount of 'bite.'

Finally, we had our dinner.  This is my plate.  I probably should have arranged it more artfully, but, it is what it is.  Good thing you can't smell it, it would drive you crazy.  

Jeanne's cole slaw was perfect of course. I added another spoon of it to my plate after taking this picture and then some additional sauce. 

We generally eat dinner in front of the TV. To accompany this meal, we watched an old episode of Agatha Christie's, Poirot. We love those.  

We did have lots of meat/sauce/bread/cole slaw left over and will repeat our dinner menu exactamente again tonight (Wednesday) evening. 

So, that's my post. Have I made you hungry I wonder?  I hope so.  I know that I've made myself hungry by writing this up today, on Wednesday morning, and lunch is still a long ways off. It serves me right, I guess. 

(And btw, I'm adding this short paragraph two days later. We got a total of 7 meals from this BBQ. Two dinners for each of us and three lunches. That was efficient cooking.)  

Since I'll publish this on Sunday, May 5, 2024, and we in NZ are about 18 hours ahead of many of you, I can close by saying May the 4th be with you, and it will still be timely.     -djf