Cook something fun or traditional yesterday on the 4th? I did. Boy did I ever.

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Soooo traditional here. Slow-roasted BBQ baby back ribs, potato salad (my Mom's with a tweak or three), sweet-pickled cukes /radishes and some watermelon.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?

Well, although they worked fine the day before, my ovens wouldn't "fire" - DH thinks it is a starter- and I had to improvise so I put the ribs in the slow cooker and by mistake set the heat at "medium" as if it were on a stove instead of either "high" or "low" slow cooker mode. What a dummy. I walked away for almost three hours. Hey, those ribs were DONE and then some. I have never had to scrape and soak the slow cooker container before. Was able to salvage some for dinner but jeez. Good thing there was no company and my DH is a sport.

 
I had problems too

My BBQ would not get over 250-300 degrees and the first time I got it going it shut off on its own. So I got it going again and I started with Corn on the cob in the husk which typically takes about 20 min. It took over an hour + another 1/2 hour for the no go on the first attempt.
On the positive side it was really good. But knowing the bbq was a problem I put my potatoes in the instant pot for 3 min first to cook them through. These were cut in half length wise. Then on the bbq with a special seasoning to give it a bbq flavor. They came out very tasty but did not ever get to crispy how I wanted them.

For the seasoning I ground up:
apprx 1 teaspoon of hot pepper flakes
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander
mixed this with:
1 tsp paprika
1 tbs salt
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs chipotle
1/2 tsp gran garlic

I mixed this all thoroughly in some grapeseed oil and brushed it on the potatoes on the grill. I got some raves on these and my wife was talking about them this morning. I think they'd have been a notch better with a little bit of crispy though so I'm going to try again when the bbq is fixed.

On the traditional side we had hot dogs with that.

 
Our grill had fits yesterday too! The on-off and temperature range valve wouldn't compress and stay

shut. But when my brother picked it up this morning (it was only 74 degrees then instead of 94 degrees yesterday), it worked fine. Maybe the rubber gaskets inside didn't like the excessive heat?? Burgers had been precooked so we just finished them in the house. My BIL made smoked brisket following the method taught in an online Master Class by Aaron Franklin. For his first attempt, it was pretty amazing. He used a Traeger Pro 575 with WiFIRE Technology D2 Wood Pellet Freestanding Smoker Black (whew!...that was a copy/paste so I got it right)--with a phone app telling him when to do stuff. So...not old school like feeding wood logs into the burner all the night, but delicious none the less.

It was a party to celebrate Mom's 92 and most of my family was there. We were all spaced out on her large patio...each family group sat together and all wore masks when kissing Mom. Have to say--after four months--it felt REALLY WEIRD being near so many people so relatively close (ha, I made a pun).

https://www.masterclass.com/classes/aaron-franklin-teaches-texas-style-bbq?utm_source=Paid&utm_medium=AdWords&utm_campaign=AF&utm_content=Brand-{keyword}-US_BM&utm_term=Aq-Prospecting&gclid=Cj0KCQjwl4v4BRDaARIsAFjATPkFyrLU496EaGiedpx7ygw9q4bZmoj0bzfFkHOH4

 
smoked brisket is one of my fav. things in the world

After not having it for years, I had it twice last month in the best place in the world to get it: Texas

 
I made a beautiful fresh peach cake,(thanks Ina Garten) which had sour cream

cinnamon, almond and vanilla extract (my tweek) and pecans on top.
Very yum. Also, roasted chicken pieces and served with a mushroom, zinfandel sauce, and a Yotam Ottolengh recipe using farro, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, and marinated feta that was outstanding. One thing I learned was that I could add wheat berries to round out the one cup of farro I was short on. Made for a very tasty and stunning dish. Sheet pan of roasted rainbow carrots, orange carrots, red onion, and red bell pepper rounded out the menu.

 
Glad everyone survived their holiday cooking challenges. smileys/smile.gif I made pressure cooker baked beans

for the first time. I have never made home made baked beans as DH doesn't eat them. We were having 2 "circle of trust" people over and they love them, so I thought I'd give them a try. To my great surprise, they were as good as as any I've ever had. Don't ya love it when it works out for a change?

 
I had hot dogs...because I can’t taste anything

Well, I can a little bit now, but not too much. Loss of taste was listed as a side effect of a medication I was (and stopped) taking, but given it’s been over a week now I kinda wish my dr gave me a covid test even though I’ve basically been holed up even before it was official.

Let me tell you completely losing your ability to taste is a very weird thing indeed.

 
I have been wondering how strange that could be. I can't imagine. Hope it clears up immediately. I

could not see wanting to cook.

 
My DMIL lost her sense of taste and was still an excellent cook!! She had some

taste for sweet and had an aversion to pasta because of it. It was probably a virus infection of the sinus according to doctors. It really was a shame because she LOVED food.

 
My friends husband lost his sense of taste after using a specific nose drop product

It has been years since then and he is getting back some taste.

 
I lost sense of smell after massive dosages of steroids to combat severe poison ivy

breakout...as in two trips to the ER "severe" and several weeks off from work due to blistering.

It took several years before it came back. I'm still not sure it's 100% returned.

 
Steroid? Oh, please don't stop. It is given in a very precise dosage with decreasing

dosage. There are bad side effects if you don't complete. At least consult your doctor.
I have had really massive doses of steroids a number of times for autoimmune disease AND for poison ivy bouts and this loss of taste never has happened in my experience.

 
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