You can smoke frozen pork ribs

I'm sure the title of this post is heresy to smoking purists.

The problem with smoking meat, is every article or book you read goes through this long diatribe about things to do for that perfect ending to a the hours on the smoker. Wet sauce, dry rub, do this, do that, salt them, don't salt them, marinade, dance a jig, down a shot of whiskey, and on and on.

One day I decided to smoke ribs on the spur of the moment. Like, fire up the smoker, remove ribs from the freezer and stick 'em in. Fortunately I had some St. Louis style ribs that were just the right length and did not require firing up the chain saw.

I guess I was curious more than anything. I was sorta wanting ribs, but mainly I wanted the smell of the smoker going on a cool spring day as I did some yard work.

I cooked them about the same amount of time I would if company was comin. Around 6 hrs, around 200-225. No salt no pepper no marinade. These were nekkid ribs and they were just fine. Not my best but they would have been good enough for family and for most of the people I would invite over to the house.

Would they win a competition? Never? Could I open a restaurant selling Eskimo style ribs? Doubtful, though Minnesotans would by them in droves if I stuck "fusion" in the name. Will I do it again? Absolutely.

Great day just to fish

There are days when it is nice just to be on the lake, whether the fish are biting or not. I don't have one of those fancy fish finders, and I don't read the fishing tables. Mainly I just fish when I feel like it. If the fish are biting, I keep going, if they aren't I stop. Usually.

Today we fished for crappie, mainly jigging white grubs. Boy there were a ton of bites but seems the fish were just playing with us. Lots of nibbles few nice bites. In two hours the two of us caught about fifteen or so. Threw them all back for someone else to catch.

The lake was like glass almost all morning. An occasional gust but otherwise just nice and calm. Easy to use that trolling motor and not fighting the wind like it is often around here. The water temp is about 80, which is getting nice for swimming.

My wife likes to fish, which is good, most of the time.

The Nativity of John the Baptist

When I became Catholic, there were many things I grew to love that I had not thought much about when pondering finer points of theology. One is the church calendar. There is always something going on and it is always pointing to Jesus.

This week we celebrated the birth of John the Baptist. Just six more months until Christmas! Three months ago, when snow was still on the ground, came the annunciation - 9 months until Christmas. The angel told Mary at that time that her cousin Elizabeth was in her sixth month. Mary traveled to see Elizabeth, who became in a way the first evangelist, sorta. It was Elizabeth who proclaimed that the child Jesus, living three months in the womb of Mary, was "my Lord".

John the Baptist. The Precursor. He must increase and I must decrease. Leaping in the womb as Mary approaches Elizabeth. Preparing the way of the Lord. In the wilderness with a few followers. The baptizer of Jesus. Martyr at the hand of Herod Antipas.

Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.