Traeger BBQ Beef Ribs and Celebrating Our Independence

Happy 4th of July to everyone out there today!  We have been very busy decorating the yard and house and preparing for the day.  We started with a wonderful hike with the dogs to one of the rivers and they took in a well deserved swim.

The girls have planned our menu and jumped right into the kitchen preparing our evening's picnic and festivities while we watch the City's fireworks display.

All decorated and ready to go!

So very handsome!

Our patriotic pups!

The main event for tonight of course will be grilled ribs.  This recipe comes from our Traeger book, which has proven to be our go-to for smoking and grilling time and time again.

Beef Ribs
Courtesy of Traeger's Everyday Cookbook

(2) 7-bone racks beef long ribs (back ribs), 5 to 6 pounds total
Traeger Prime Rib Rub (or your favorite barbecue rub)
Traeger Texas Spicy Barbecue Sauce (or your favorite barbecue sauce)

** If you don't have a Traeger, you could certainly do this same rib on your grill and/or smoker, and cook according to your temperature's/manufacturer's directions.

Remove the thin papery membrane from the bone-side of the ribs by working the tip of a butter knife. Use paper towels to get a firm grip, then tear the membrane off.

Season the ribs with your Prime Rib rub.

When ready to cook, start the Traeger grill on Smoke with the lid open until the fire is established (4 to 5 minutes).  Smoke the ribs, meat-side up, for 2 hours.  Set the temperature to 225 degrees.

Continue to cook the ribs for 3 to 4 hours more, or until the meat is tender.  If desired, wrap the ribs tightly in foil partway through the cooking time.  The last 30 minutes, carefully remove the ribs from the foil and brush them liberally with your barbecue sauce, and return to grill.  Transfer the ribs to a cutting board and let them rest for a few minutes before carving them into individual ribs.

Season them up.

Set it...and forget it!

I think family "blooper" photos are my favorite!

One Year Ago:  Apple Pie Cake

Rouladen and Relatives

So, we have these special little greeters at our front door...Santa Clause that used to sing and dance and get his groove on at our entrance and two little ice skating children.  Now, please understand that when I found the ice skaters, the girls were about their size, and they thought then that the dolls were adorable.  In these times when I put them out this year, I believe the phrase I heard was, "those creepy little ice skating dolls".  I think they have been watching too many SciFi Channel movies.  Yet, when I said, "Okay, I will throw them away"....the response was, "NOOOO", don't throw them way!!".   I rest my case.  Tradition always wins!!

Santa and his little friends.

Well, our greeters happily welcomed our niece Heather and her husband Matt this weekend.  They live three minutes from us down the street and are the most adorable couple.  When we moved here a little over a year ago, they were our angels.  Met with realtors, scoped out houses for us and had the most beautiful house warming basket ready for us on our move-in day (complete with toilet paper, now that is true friendship).

Heather and our youngest at the Sun River Family Reunion 13 years ago - so precious!

Heather and Matt (photo bombed by Theo)

Heather and I discussed our family holiday dinner and she had the most incredible idea for a traditional German dinner.

If you’re German, you’ve probably heard of rouladen, a very traditional dish in German cooking. If you haven’t, rouladen (roo-la-din) is a pickle wrapped in a thin piece of steak and then wrapped in bacon. Sounds strange, but it is delicious!  Tonight though, we opted out of the bacon.

This family recipe is slightly different, and slightly easier to make than what you might find elsewhere. Rouladen is something a little different if you’re looking to make a traditional meal from another country.

Traditionally, rouladen is served with spätzle or dumplings and red cabbage. Spätzle is a type of homemade dumpling in Germany which my kids absolutely love, but you can just use regular store bought egg noodles or dumplings as a substitute.  I also served it with a side of sour cream and it made the sauce so creamy along with the dish.

Rouladen
Courtesy of Heather

1 (1 1/2-pound) piece of flatiron or sirloin steak, butterflied open (by you or your butcher), cut into 4   equal pieces and pounded 1/4-inch thin
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons country-style or Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons butter

1 large carrot, thinly shaved slices

2 dill picles, thinklly shaved slices

1 carton of beef broth/stock

3 juniper berries
4 slices of bacon, cut in half horizontally (optional)

1 large carrot, rough chopped
1 celery stalk,rough chopped

1 large yellow onions diced large pieces

Special equipment: toothpicks

Slice the beef about 1/4 inch thick across the large surface. This can be done with a slicing machine or by the butcher, or by hand with a very sharp knife. This works best when the meat is partially frozen. Lay beef out flat.

Spread each slice with mustard, fill one end with 1 - 2 carrot shavings and 2 slices of pickle. Roll up from the filled end (like a jelly roll) and secure with 2 toothpicks. (This is where you would wrap it in the half slice of bacon if you are so inclined).

Melt the butter and oil in a saucepan or Dutch oven and brown the outside of the roulade in it.  Meanwhile, dice the carrot, onion and celery.

Remove the roulades to a plate, add the "Suppengrün" or mirepoix and sauté for a few minutes, until soft. Place the beef rolls back on top of the vegetables, add enough of the beef broth, to make about 1/2 inch of liquid in the pan.  Add the juniper berries.  Cover, turn temperature low and simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove beef roulades and keep warm. Puree sauce and thicken (optional) with a little cream, sour cream or "Wondra" (like Sossenbinder") flour. Season to taste with more salt and pepper as needed. Place roulades back in sauce until serving time.

Chicken Tortilla Soup For The Weary

"There is no rest for the weary." I looked up this phrase, because I love to know where and how idioms came about (not to mention that I have really been feeling it lately) and here is what one definition said:

Prov. Even people who are worn-out must continue to work. (Describes a situation in which a tired person has to do more work.).  Isn't this the same definition, next to the word MOM in the dictionary??

It has been over 2 weeks since my last post and I feel like I have been gone for months.  My friend Toni is kicking my - - - in the number of her posts this month and I am feeling very behind. Oh, not to worry though, I have been photographing outings and recipes and still driving my family crazy during the past few weeks. I just have not had one moment to sit down and write.  We have been go, go, go!!!

It truly has been a whirlwind couple of weeks, starting with high school volleyball tournament last weekend. As I volunteered at the beginning of the season to be the team parent, I jumped on the bus with the team (promising to not embarrass my children of course) and away we went.  The team was victorious and fought on to take first place - I was so proud of each and every one of them.  Their high school team as of today is undefeated and they have one more game to go for the season to keep their record - I am quite certain I am more nervous about it than they are.

One of our volleyball stars.

  My stress level is already starting to peak with the upcoming birthdays and holidays.  My husband's is mid-December, then we have Christmas and of course I had to pick the end of December to have twins....so, holidays tend to raise my tension level just a bit. I am already trying to figure out who will be getting what gifts and when, deciding what is the best for a Christmas vs. Birthday present.  We have also been blessed this year with our 2 additional twin grandbabies, giving is a total of 3 amazing grandchildren now.  I am making all the grandkids blankets this year, so trying to find the perfect material and patterns for their sweet little personalities.  Let us also not forget the deadline of trying to get packages out in the mail to our families, so I don't have to pay the exorbitant "last minute because I didn't get my act together in enough time mailing fees".

Then there's also my very dear friend Felicia coming to visit me next month.  I want everything perfect for her so she can be spoiled during her stay with us.  She has done so much for me and my family that I want to make her time here special and memorable.  I have no doubt that adult beverages will be involved in those memories - she has already put in a request for my husband's Cosmos.  Stay tuned for postings during that week...should be very interesting to say the least.

To add some fun into the mix, my work is beyond crazy, busy!  I no sooner get to work and it's time to go home.  My days are rapidly going by with all the daily tasks, schedules, clients, paper trails and e-mails. Not complaining though, I would take it that way over being bored, any day!!

Look closely and you can see the other volleyball star being funny!
Now you know why every parent needs a margarita during road trip weekends.

My husband had also been begging me to do a road trip and get away for the weekend.  We tossed around many ideas and learned that Mt. Rushmore was only 5-1/2 hours from us.  I jumped online and did my tourist research because I am such a planner like that.  It turns out that Keystone, South Dakota basically shuts down October 1st every year after their tourist season.  Perfect!!  Got a great hotel for an amazing rate, no crowds at the National Monument and no waiting at restaurants and the weather couldn't have been better for this time of year. 

The girls loved all the history at Mt. Rushmore and we were really taken back by the beauty of the monument. We took in every moment there and learned everything that it stood for, the sculptor and the stories behind it.  Of course, the movie fan that I am, I had to stake out every location sight from where they filmed National Treasure 2 there.  

The locals taking over the highway.

The wildlife before, during and after the visit there was the best though.  Our daughters really had a great time seeing all these amazing creatures in their natural environment yet completely okay being around tourists too.  We even had time to see the Crazy Horse Memorial,  Black Hills Ghost Town and The Flintstones Resort in Custer, SD (yes, you read that correctly). http://www.flintstonesbedrockcity.com/

Our drive home took us through quite the storm from South Dakota, through Wyoming and even into Colorado.  It was cold, rainy and extremely windy.  We were all tired and needed a nice bowl of hearty soup for our chilled bones, to end our perfect weekend.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
Inspired by Chicken Enchilada Soup (on realmomkitchen.com )at http://realmomkitchen.com/463/chicken-enchilada-soup-and-my-top-10-soup-recipes/

(1) 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
(1) 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
(1) 10 ounce package frozen whole kernel corn
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped yellow, green or red bell pepper
(1) 10 ounce can enchilada sauce (mild)
(1) 10.75 ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup
1-1/2 cups milk
(1) cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese (4 ounces)
(2) cooked chicken breasts, diced

Mix beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, pepper and chicken in a large pot.  Whisk together enchilada sauce soup and milk and pour over soup mixture in pot.  Stir well.

Bring to a low boil over medium heat, then cover and  turn to low and let simmer for about an hour.

Serve with the pepper jack cheese,  sour cream, sliced avocado and tortilla strips.

This is what Theo thought of us leaving him for the weekend.

Needless to say, he wasn't very happy when we returned and didn't mind letting us know.