BBQ Ribs, cheesy, garlic Mashed potatoes, Corn on the Cob 

Sundays are probably my favorite days to cook a huge meal. I try not to plan much on Sundays, usually because I reserve those for my cooking days in which I take my time and make up my own recipes. Sigh, I just love Sundays. Also, if I make a big meal on a Sunday I will ALWAYS make a dessert (which I will focus on in my next post).
On this particular Sunday I wanted to make a good old fashioned barbecued dinner. Ribs, crazy good mashed potatoes and corn on the cob (also done on the bbq). Not much better than that. These recipes today are all courtesy of yours truly! Sundays really are the best. So here goes...

BBQ Ribs

Approx 2 full racks of ribs (I don't know what the weight of the ribs were but they were one of those long racks you can get at Costco that come in a pack of two. They are approximately two "full" racks).

Okay, fine, here's just a picture for reference instead of me just rambling on and on trying to explain to you how big they are.
I made a rub for the ribs consisting of approx:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup white sugar
1 T oregano
1 t cumin
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 t paprika
1 t smoked chipotle powder
1 t black pepper
1/2 t salt
1 t garlic powder
... and I think that's it.
I rubbed that in pretty good so that the meat could have a really nice smoky flavor. I put a little bit of water at the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish and baked the ribs at 350 degrees for about an hour.

While those were in the oven I started making my mashed potatoes. I used a whole bag of those small red potatoes with the skins still on. I cut them in half and boiled them until I could poke a fork through them easily.

Aww, how cute. My Grandma would have referred to these as potatoes with their jackets still on.
Anyway, once these were done I added about 1/4 cup of sour cream, 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese, an entire bulb of roasted garlic (cut off the top of the bulb, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20 mins at about 350 or until the garlic is nice and soft), some salt and pepper, maybe some butter and/or milk? I can't remember exactly as I'm writing this post a few weeks after I made it and I never write my recipes down. The texture was chunky but still moist. Dry mashed potatoes are, just, no.

Once the ribs came out of the oven, we (when I say "we" I'm referring to my husband and I) put them on the bbq and basted the crap out of them with some garlic and onion bbq sauce. They don't go on very long as they're already cooked, just long enough to get a nice char on the outside.

Our corn cobs also went on the bbq and I cannot take credit for that as my husband cooked them and they turned out fabulous.

So this picture looks a little overexposed (is that the right word?) but I think it shows clearly the nice char that was achieved on these ribs. And no, I didn't eat all of that in one sitting. It sure made a tasty lunch for work the next day!

This picture shows the potatoes and the corn a smidge better - as you've probably gathered for yourself. I also love mashed potatoes in any form/texture. These were pretty chunky but I also like them whipped completely smooth or fried into little croquettes (we had potato croquettes for our anniversary dinner and they were AMAAAAAzing).
Okay, and now while I'm on a roll, part two featuring a strawberry greek yogurt bundt cake is up next!

- A