Let the roll-making begin

You now how most people, when they get a bread machine, it just goes in their garage and gathers dust until they decide to sell it at a garage sale? Well, that's not me. I don't remember how I got obsessed with the idea of making bread, but right before I made my first loaf from scratch, Mom offered to give me her bread machine instead.

I was always anti the square loaves, until my friend Chelsea, who's a trained chef with impeccable taste, convinced me that they're not so bad. Pretty much any food-related item that Chelsea gives her stamp of approval to becomes good enough for me that easily. I am so gullible.

So began the obsession with baking break. It started with the recipes that came with the bread machine. But then I came across Beth Hensperger's "The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook," and I think it might have been love at first sight. I started making the recipes from front to back, then I got sidetracked by a few and now I'm all over the place. But I never strayed from loaves.

OK, I sculpted a few lopsided pizza crusts and calzones that started off in the bread machine, but I was really scared of anything having to do with cutting the dough into chunks. Rebekkah Denn once tried to convince me that cinnamon buns are easy to make after I marveled at her ability to make these overnight rolls and take care of her two children, but to no avail.

However, last night, I didn't really have a choice when Bryan came home with a delicious-smelling smoked port butt from his SouthPaw BBQ buddy. Well, I suppose I could have gone BACK to the store to get hamburger buns, but who wants to go to the grocery store twice in a day? That is just silly. It makes much more sense to just decide on a whim at 5 o'clock at night to make hamburger buns from scratch.

Oh my gosh, it was so easy! Why have I been scared of dough my whole life? I suppose it has to do with Mom's countless failures at getting it to rise, but that's when the bread machine comes in handy. The rest just takes a gentle touch and a lot of flour.

Now take a look at this scrumptiousness ...

Smoked ribs to warm my home

Honestly, I do want to apologize to all my vegetarian friends out there. I swear, I do not eat huge slabs of meat for dinner every night. I even used to be a vegetarian! But now that I'm back on the meat, it's all I want in the summertime. Meat off the grill, meat on a stick, meat on a bun, you name it.

Anyhoo, for those of you who live in the area, you may have noticed that after the perfect Fourth of July weekend, the weather is no longer quite as ideal for barbecues. Just in time, Bryan got a rack of smoked ribs that spent enough time in the coals to only need a warm-up in the oven. Kept me from having to turn on the heat (I'm kidding!)!

And where did Bryan get this rack of ribs? His colleague, who participates in barbecue competitions under the name SouthPaw BBQ, made them for us in one of his many weekend practice runs for the mere price of cost. Cooking on Monday nights has never been easier! Check out the smoker SouthPaw cooks with and other photos here.

We did an informal taste test with Mom's Barbecue Ribs, and really, with such a unique, smokey flavor, there's simply no comparison. The smoker definitely makes the meat a bit drier, but I really like the way it falls off the bone, whereas I kind of have to gnaw it off Barbecue Ribs. On that note, I can't say I've ever had a bad homemade rack of ribs, so maybe I'm not the best judge.

After the last few experiences with SouthPaw, Bryan and I talked about buying a smoker. But I think a lot of the flavor in their meats comes from their experience and the rub they use. Besides, I was eavesdropping on the bus the other day and heard somebody raving about a smokehouse on our route, Jenson's Old-Fashioned Smokehouse. I finally stopped there last week and I do believe that place will soothe my craving if SouthPaw goes to the big time and we lose our connection.