KITCHEN FACELIFT

Here is one view of the kitchen with it's new microwave and glass tiles between the counter and hanging cabinets. I am very happy the way it turned out. I did not want to lose the country feel in our home but wanted it fashionable and less cluttered so I think we achieved that.
Now onward to the laundry room. Then our house will be back to normal before we do something more.

I expected a totally cloudy day today but that is not the case. The sun has been winking at us through the windows for most of the day. However it is not warm out, there is a small brisk breeze that keeps me indoors.

Tonight in our kitchen I am making crispy parmesan chicken cutlets. For sides I will serve roasted cauliflower and smashed red potatoes with chicken gravy. A little comfort food. I was going to make a veggie meal but decided to add the parmesan chicken. I love the left over chicken the next day for lunch.

We ate ribs again last night. I must say we have the St. Louis ribs down to a science. I just remove the silver membrane from the back of ribs and trim any excess fat and salt and pepper the ribs both sides. St. Louis style ribs are larger pork ribs than baby back. We do not care for baby back ribs as they tend to be dry. We like to bite into the rib and get a bit of pull to the bite before the meat releases from the bone. That is the perfect way to make them. I bake them first in a 325 degree oven in a covered roaster pan with a little water covering the bottom and bake for 45 minutes. Then hubby takes over as far as the grilling part. I make a semi homemade bbq sauce. I start with a basic original flavor bottled sauce. To that I add apple cider, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar a small drizzle of honey and a good squirt of ketchup, onion salt, hot sauce and pepper. I take a taste if it is acidic I add more honey, if too sweet I add more balsamic, if it is not hot enough, add more heat.  This mix makes for a nice medium bodied sauce.
After the ribs are roasted in the oven they go on to a hot oil sprayed grill. Now my husband starts mopping on the sauce and turning the ribs as required. The whole event on the grill last about fifteen minutes. Remove the ribs when the edges are getting black and crispy and the sauce is all sticky!
I am telling you these ribs are heaven!!!! We had pile of napkins on the table you would not believe.

I am looking so forward to my daughter coming. She will be here the 27th for a couple of nights. It is time to spring clean the guest bedroom so knowing that she is coming will make it fun for me. Lighter bed linens, remove clutter, clean and clean until everything is sparkling. This time of year I will put a vase of daffodils on the night table.
Hubby is going to take us to wine country if the weather cooperates. It will be a good time no matter what we do. We always have fun.

Not that our kitchen is set and we have some time before I start dinner we are going to play gin rummy. We both love that game. We are very competitive we never know who will win. We have different strategies. We bet two dollars a game which makes it more intense.

The weekend is ending it was a good one here in this household as we accomplished much.
Ciao