Country Pork Ribs have lots of meat, unlike spare ribs.  My husband made some with a glaze that my middle son said tasted like popsicles.  So these are now called “Popsicle Ribs”.   Salt and pepper them before putting them on the grill toward the edges (on “indirect heat”: not over the flaming coals) for 20 minutes turning occasionally.   Coat with the glaze and cook for another 5-10 minutes.  These were very thick, so you might need to adjust cooking time according to thickness.

Apricot Orange Soy Glaze (“Popsicle Sauce”) for Country Ribs

1/2 cup apricot jam

1 tsp fish sauce

1 Tbsp Tamari soy sauce

1 Tbsp orange zest

Mix together.  If you want to kick it up a notch add some hot pepper. 

Baste meat after it’s almost done and keep it on indirect heat.  That way it won’t burn because of the sugar.

We also grilled some calamari (squid) that I put in olive oil, salt and pepper before putting them on the grill.  These take just a couple of minutes.  So we put them on when everything else was done.  Squeeze of lemon is perfect on top. 

Only my middle son would taste the calamari, but before he went to bed, my eldest said he’d wished he had tasted them.  Luckily we bought 8 tubes and had only 4 that night and the other half the following night. 

We served them with a cucumber and onion salad; green beans; tomato basil goat cheese salad; corn on the cob and also some eel sushi for a side dish per request of my 8 year old.  Too much food for only five of us, but thoroughly enjoyed.

In our bountiful CSA bin this week was a bag of purple string beans. I think they’re “burgundy” beans but not positive.  If you’re ever looking for a fun vegetable to cook with kids, look no further.  Really, these are truly magical.  They are a rich purple outside and grassy green interior but when they cook they turn all green (almost olive colored).  It’s a great thing for the kids to watch as they change colors and it just might be the thing to get the pickier eaters to actually eat some!  It only takes 3 minutes to cook in already boiling water. Drain and put in ice bath when done.  Can reheat with butter, salt and pepper to taste when rest of dinner is ready.

We actually got our eldest to eat string beans when he was a toddler (after refusing several times) by creating the “Green Bean Dance”. It is a family tradition now and has gotten a bit out of hand.  What started as bopping in seats while munching on the beans together in unison is now full on break dancing.  The funny thing is… it worked.  My toddler was resistant to eating the beans and it became fun.  Kind of like slurping up spaghetti is fun.  Now, they all the love the taste of beans and we don’t need the dance, just occasionally have one for old time’s sake.

Looking at this photo from 2 days ago reminds me that I finally got to the pile of dirt in the corner… today.

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