I Want My Baby Back...

No, Melissa isn't away on vacation without me, but what better title for a blog about smoking ribs! Our neighborhood loved us today as we made the entire street smell like a BBQ festival in Texas. We've never tried smoking and grilling ribs before, but see for yourself the results.



We started with a little 6 pound rack of ribs from the local market
and marinated them in Italian dressing overnight. We used Famous Dave's award winning Rib Rub and slathered it in Famous Dave's Sauce to finish. (For any of you who haven't heard of "Famous Dave's" BBQ restaurant, you truly need to check your area and make time to visit.) The smoke was provided by soaked Hickory chips and the grill was provided by the previous owners of our home. We met the previous owners at closing, and they asked us if we would like a free smoker grill. I had always wanted one of these beauties, and free was a price I just couldn't pass up.

We tried using the grill while we were building our deck, and we being "newbies" used match light charcoal throughout the cooking process. (If you haven't tried it, go ahead...it makes your meat taste like lighter fluid.) Lately we hadn't even taken the cover off the grill in over a year, so we decided to give it a trial run and see if it was worth moving. As of right now, it's putting up a pretty convincing argument. I guess we'll have to "test" it out a few more times to decide for sure.

I don't know how many times I have watched the "Jack Daniels BBQ Invitational" on the food network, but today I finally felt like I was a part of it all. All I need to do now is convince Melissa to sell one of the cars and build a 20 foot version of this baby to take on the road! Look out world! There's a new "Famous Dave" in town!