Ravencajun, I have some beef ribs in the freezer--think I'll copycat your recipe. Not so crazy about beef ribs but they were on sale at some point. Gadgets, you put me to shame because you always seem to eat so healthy. Need to take some lessons from you!! Pam, nothing tastes better than a well-done (as in blackened) hot dog from the grill. Love cucumber salad too. I make mine in a creamy sauce with dill, but like the vinegar onion cucumber salad, too. How do you make yours? Georgysmom, I'll sure be glad when you're home--miss you so much here!! I read in your other post about being tired of eating out and understand that feeling. Although I could use about a week of it right now. This hot weather makes me lose my appetite. Not that THAT would be a bad thing since I have 15 pounds to lose. Kathleen, we had rain sometime in the night and it was cool and breezy this morning. It felt wonderful, but warmed up fast. Hope you're feeling better. I had to turn the air on because it was making me feel a little queasy and knew I wouldn't sleep with it so hot. When I turned it on, it was 83 inside. Groan!

Rhizo, I'm working on writing up the recipe for the "Jamaican Jambalaya" but it is difficult since one of the steps was make a dish of roasted sweet potato, plantain and onion, eat half of it, refrigerate the rest overnight, and add that to the Jambalaya. For the most part though it involved cooking the ingredients in a large skillet, setting some aside, and cooking others, eventually adding more and more until they are all in the large skillet, then lower heat to a simmer until the rice is done. Cooking plantains however is easy. The hardest part is waiting until the plantains are ripe enough. They are usually greenish-yellow when you buy them, but i feel they are best when they are completely black on the outside, which can take a couple of weeks after you buy them. Once they are ripe, it couldn't be easier. Lightly score the peel lengthwise, remove peel and slice plantain into 1/4 thick slices. Add oil to a large skillet, heat over medium high heat until oil shimmers, add plantain discs, cook until browned, flip, and cook the other side until browned. Remove to plate with paper towel. Lightly salt and serve.

wow, chicken livers... haven't had them in a LONG time. Sauteed chicken livers used to be a comfort food for me! Most people I know now would rather starve than be forced to eat a chicken liver. I can't imagine a restaurant selling them. lol! Great. Now I'm craving either chicken liver, beef liver, or liverwurst. ;p Good thing I have a chocolate cake in the oven! :)

Well, I woke up this morning and hubby had 2 pounds of ground beef and 1 pound of sausage thawing in the refrigerator. Cans of tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and tomato paste were on the kitchen counter next to the stove. I took a guess that was a pretty good hint that he was ready for another big pot of spaghetti sauce. We had a huge shrimp salad, spaghetti, and garlic bread.