Feeling like Fall

These past few nights D and I have been sleeping with the windows open and it's definitely starting to feel more like Fall.  I always used to favor Spring over Fall, with everything starting to bloom and those big blue skies and crisp air after what can only be described as a gray Missouri winter, but then we decided to get married in October so fall has definitely grown on me.

This fall is going to be a bit different, both because we have a new home (and TONS of leaves to rake) and it's our first married Fall together.  This time last year I was entering the home stretch of wedding planning and sleeping with the windows open and enjoying a few crunchy leaves didn't even cross my mind.

D has always loved Fall. I think my husband is the only grown man who still does back to school shopping and gets giddy about all the coziness that Fall brings. I'm excited to embrace some of the fun Fall things that we missed last year what with wedding planning and taking our honeymoon for most of October.

lots of fire pits and smores in our fall future - this was the set up at our wedding!

 

 

st. louis balloon glow is this weekend - the official start to fall!

 

In addition to game nights, wine parties and lots of movies by the fire, I'm also excited to work on my "Fall To Do List" - all the house things I've been putting off until it's too cold to pull weeds, paint furniture and putz around in the garage.

 

Before we get to Fall, we still have a few more projects to wrap up outside, namely: cleaning up the ivy mess in the front, taking down a poor tree in the back that didn't quite make it this summer and installing a french drain.  That last one should be pretty laborious but we should have some family/worker bees coming to visit in October so hopefully that will help the progress along.

 

What are you most excited about this Fall?

 

xoxo.

KC

 



Friday Foodie

So D finally emailed me the rib recipe, and I see that it's lacking the rub part - no malice on his part, probably just forgot. Here's what we know to be true: the cooking method is just as important, if not more so, as the flavor.

We usually use this rub that we get in Nashville from the greatest grocery store EVER - Fresh Market. We don't have a Fresh Market in St. Louis or even Missouri for that matter due to some crazy (to me) grocery labor unions. This is also the travesty the prevents us from ever getting a Super Target with legit grocery - painful. I digress. TFM has tons of rubs for poultry, steaks, potatoes, you name it there's a rub for it, but we always use the "Anything Goes" rub which includes: sea salt, paprika, sugar, cumin, fennel, brown sugar, coriander, mint, red chili flakes, cinnamon, cloves, and cayenne, in that order so you could probably guesstimate this. We ran out of the mix so we added in most of the above and ground it together with a mortar and pestle.

Once you have your rub fixed up, you follow the below instructions. It should also be noted that this is Big T's recipe that he has worked on for a LONG time and consulted lots of local butchers, chefs, etc. on. We keep using baby back ribs because that seems to be what's most readily available here in St. Louis but regular back ribs will be slightly more fatty but will also yield a more tender finished product - baby backs are fine, you just have to watch them and adjust accordingly if things look like they're drying out too much.

"Big T's Ribs"

adapted by D

with clarification notes by katie

Purchase Back Ribs or Baby Back Ribs. Remove membrane from bone side of ribs. Do this when they are all together before cutting racks into smaller sections. Easiest to work on this with a tea towel rather than paper towels to get a better grip - this is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF GETTING TENDER RIBS.

Blot dry with paper towels.

Generously apply rub (see above) and brown sugar (about a cup total across 4 full racks of ribs) to both sides of ribs. Push spices in deep. Wrap each section of ribs tightly in plastic wrap and

cover in an aluminum pan overnight - in the fridge, duh. There's no time limit here but we usually prep them around 12 or 1 the day prior to cooking to give you an idea.

Next day, remove plastic and place all ribs in aluminum pan bone side down. Recover pan (with aluminium foil or the topper that came with it) and bake 3-4 hours at 225.

Put on grill on low-medium heat for 3-5 minutes per side. When they begin to get crispy, it's time for barbecue sauce. You can use whatever sauce you'd like. We usually use whatever's regional (as in nashville sauce in nashville, stl sauce in stl, and even Toronto bbq sauce when we were in toronto earlier this summer)

Move to indirect heat. Then brush sauce on heavily. Then grill on low heat for ten minutes. Brush again and grill another five to ten. Take off grill and eat. um i love that last part.

So there it is - enjoy! I usually serve this with these green beans a la my hero.

via. pretty sure i could be happy as a clam living in the hamptons,

cooking in this kitchen and being the barefoot contessa in training.

I'll be getting my foodie on in NOLA this weekend for my bestie's bachelorette party! Pics with the cute deets I've been crafting when I return. Hopefully we stay dry, apparently someone named Nadine is trying to crash the party.

xoxo,

KC