please try sweet baby ray's honey bbq sauce

Idle Husband and I don't usually eat ribs. It's never something I think about cooking at home, and it's definitely something neither of us would ever consider eating out (way too messy!).

So I found myself in a weird spot when I suddenly felt the urge to buy ribs last week. Naturally, I blame the blogs for continually showing me delicious pictures of ribs slathered in BBQ sauce, nestled beside a serving of potato salad or corn or some other summery side dish.

Anyway, last night I made this recipe from a new online foodie (and other ideas, but mostly food)magazine Sweet Paul. You should check it out, it's a pretty cute mag!

Right, on to the recipe. Here's what I learned about ribs (having absolutely never cooked them myself):
- nothing. The only thing I did a tad differently is that I changed pans after lowering the temperature. The sugar had caramelized and started to burn on the first pan and the smell of burning sugar was putting me right off. I think the next time I make this (the ribs weren't that expensive, and I can get four meals from one package), I'd only cook it at 400 for maybe 30-40 minutes instead of the full hour. The sugar on the pan got very burned and smokey by the time that hour was up, and while most of the meat was super tender and delicious, some parts -- mostly the exposed top of the meat -- were a little tough and chewy.

The result was a really sweet, definitely sticky, and spicy rib. The only downside? I probably should have made more! I paired it with our regular salad (we have a salad with every meal), and I whipped together a rather easy and slap-dash potato salad. I don't have a recipe for that, so I just kinda made one up as I went along. On hindsight, I should have seasoned it a bit more, but the cool, creamyness of the salad went really well with the sweet and spicy taste of the ribs. What a great Sunday dinner!

Sorry I have no pictures, though! I was too focused on the deliciousness to bother getting my camera!