July 26, 2015 Brunch at Linda Thorne’s Coffee House. Dinner at Cynthia and Ricardo’s BBQ’d Pork Ribs, Cauliflower Cole Slaw, mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Black Eyed Peas

July 26, 2015 Brunch at Linda Thorne’s Coffee House. Dinner at Cynthia and Ricardo’s  BBQ’d Pork Ribs, Cauliflower Cole Slaw, mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Black Eyed Peas

At 10:00 we decided to ride the tandem north.  On our way back we took a detour to Linda Thorne’s property for coffee.  When we arrived we noted the extensive gardens and a food truck. 

We parked the bike by a table at a shady spot in the garden and walked to the food truck. We both ordered Gazpacho and water.  I loved the fresh ingredients in the soup, especially the tomatoes.  The lady in the food truck said, all the ingredients are from the garden.  After we ate our soup we walked to the large garden and saw rows and rows of bell peppers and tomatoes inside and outside two long hoop houses.

We returned home and went to the table in our garden where we had stacked the recently harvested garlic and cut off the roots and stalks of each plant so the heads can be stored.  Due to the extensive rains many of the cloves had burst through their skins and we had to shuck their husks to liberate the cloves of fresh garlic. We filled two large bottles with cloves this year, which is more than last year.

After a nap we cooked the pork ribs, by putting them in a plastic bag with ½ of an onion and 5 cloves of fresh garlic and about ½ cup of BBQ sauce and cooked them at a .5 power for  twenty minutes and then grilled them on the grill at a low heat (400 degrees) for about an hour while basting them with the BBQ sauce.

We then grabbed a bottle of La Granja (50% Tempranillo and 50% Grenache, Trader Joe’s $4.99) and drove to Cynthia and Ricardo’s house.  

When we arrived and went to the kitchen where Cynthia had prepared a platter with carrot and celery sticks and a bowl of hummus to dip them into as an appetizer.  Ricardo made Manhattans with a special bourbon and rehydrated maraschino cherries. 

We talked and dipped veggies in hummus and sipped Manhattanswhile we heated the Black Eyed Peas and BBQ’d ribs.  

 Then we served ourselves ribs, peas,sweet potatoes, and cauliflower cole slaw and I poured us glasses of wine.

One of the things we love about eating with Cynthia and Ricardo is that they have a similar attitude about food and Cynthia is a superb cook and Ricardo is a superb mixologist, who studies the intricacies of mixing cocktails, so we always have excellent meals.

I sent Cynthia a message in the morning telling her we were bringing BBQ’d Ribs and Black Eyed Peas and asked her to make an appetizer and dessert.  She instinctively knew that sweet potatoes and a cauliflower slaw would complete a wonderful meal.  For the dessert she prepared brandies fresh plum slices and served them over Haagen Das vanilla ice cream for a simple relatively healthy dessert.

Cynthia’s Cauliflower Cole Slaw

Slice cauliflower flowerets and mix with fresh parsley, 2 Tbsps. of mayonnaise, and a dash of Pendry’s Citrus Lemon Seasoning.  A Simple, healthy, and flavorful dish.  

The mashed sweet potatoes were equally good and complemented the ribs perfectly. 

I kept saying to distraction, “This a perfect Texas meal.”  Because it was.

Bon Appetit