Ta - Da!

So as of this morning, Andrew is now officially legal internationally! I made him pancakes (using the Bob's Red Mill mix that was in the goodie box I won from Culinate early last month) for breakfast before heading out to Canada's Wonderland for a day in the scorching sun! I did ride the new Behemoth (for anyone who knows what I'm talking about... if you don't you can check it out here) - and I have a nice little bruise on my lower back to show for it! Of course we had to walk around the park a TON to work off the calories from his super-special birthday dinner last night, which culminated in the cutting of his cake!! Isn't the cross-section pretty?? I know it had to have been good too, because he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, but polished off TWO slices! I'll have to ask him later if he liked my cake better than my mom's short ribs (dangerous question - do you slight the future wife or the future MIL??). If I ever manage to place my cooking anywhere near my mom's I'll consider myself lucky - she is the best cook I have ever had the pleasure of working with and eating from!!

For now, I give you her special short rib recipe - now, this is NOT NOT NOT NOT (did I mention NOT?) a dieter's food in the least - 1 serving has 3/4 your total intake of calories! Buuuutttt, everyone needs to indulge once in a while, right?? Enjoy the fall-off-the-bone deliciousness over rice (like my mom does) or egg noodles, or even on some crusty bread (like this, perhaps?). The top photo is one I snuck of the ribs about halfway through their cooking time (at 4 or 5 hours in), and the bottom - well, that's of Andrew's plate before he added the salad and rice to it. Sneaky photography rules! I did have some shots of him blowing out the candles on his cake, but he'd kill me if I made them public. I value my life for the moment!

Mom's Man-Hunter Short Ribs
*Note about this recipe: It took two crock pots for us to make the full 6 lbs this recipe makes, which served my mom, step dad, stepbrother and Andrew with 2 small portions left over. If you need to buy a slow cooker, I recommend one of these. And this is the wine we used... go B.C.!*

Serves 8

1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
6 lbs bone-in beef short ribs
2 tbsp olive oil
3 large Vidalia onions, sliced
2 8-oz cans mushrooms, drained
1 cup full-bodied red wine
1 cup chili sauce
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tbsp chili powder

1. Combine flour, salt and pepper. Dredge ribs in the mixture, shaking off excess.
2. Heat oil in a large saute pan, brown ribs on all sides and remove them to the crockpot (for this amount we need two), pouring off excess fat.
3. Add onions and mushrooms to the crockpot.
4. In a bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients.
5. Pour over ribs in the pots, cover and cook 8 hours on LOW.
6. After 8 hours, turn control to HI and uncover. Cook 15 - 20 minutes, until condensed to your liking.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 1,463.0
Total Fat: 127.7 g
Cholesterol: 258.8 mg
Sodium: 521.8 mg
Total Carbs: 19.2 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.8 g
Protein: 52.4 g

Tomorrow is back to the health food - I promise! Broccoli and cauliflower, with a healthy, spice-spiked cheese sauce, all for ARF!