Maybe not weekly...

I clearly cannot keep up with weekly posts. And I refuse to sit down and mass produce and schedule posts ahead of time. So monthly, random posts will have to suffice. If the mobile version was easier to use, then maybe I would post more. Who knows. 

I've had a lot going on the past few weeks anyway. Our big NY show was Thanksgiving weekend, and it was busy in the office once I got back. Lots of catching up on emails, sending out orders and other things. I'm still dealing with all of that until I leave for vacation on Tuesday. It's a never ending cycle. And then Jan ramps up my busy travel schedule again, so I will be in and out for a few months until the summer. #LeSigh But such is life. Business travel is not that fun y'all. I see the airport, convention center, maybe a restaurant or two, and my hotel. Nothing more. I don't have the luxury of cushioning my business trips with personal days either. I wish I could. 

Also there's some persona stuff going on among all of this that makes it harder to focus on work. That will be for another time. If I ever feel like sharing that. It's been tough, but I think whatever the outcome is, it will make me a stronger person. Hopefully.

Anyway I'll be out for the holidays. Going back to Jamaica for the first time since 2007. So I'll touch base after the new year and hopefully have some good pictures for you guys.

Ciao,

- L 

Music Monday: Justin Bieber

Yep, you read that right. I never would have thought I'd listen to and LIKE the Biebs. But I do. It happened because I just throw Spotify on at work and don't really pay attention to the artists sometimes. So I heard "What Do You Mean" and thought it was catchy. I decided to look at the artist as it was playing, and was floored to see it was Bieber. I actually ended up liking a few other songs of his after I listened to his more recent stuff. Who knew?! He actually grew up and I can appreciate this version of him. Plus this segway cover is pretty awesome:



Original Vid:



- L

Foodie Friday - Red Wine Ribs

Originally this was supposed to be"FIT Foodie Fridays" and I'm dropping the FIT part. I love food. Period. I occasionally try to be healthy. But more often than not I will cook questionably healthy items. Sue me. I'll get it together one day. 

Yesterday being Thanksgiving and all, Hubs and I just stayed home and kept it simple. I work Thanksgiving weekend at one of our biggest shows of the year, so I can never really go anywhere. I leave Wed night to be back Friday and it is just not worth it. I will take the down time when I can. That being said, I was more than ready to have the time I needed to make me some ribs. He doesn't eat pork, so all the more to myself. I usually do Guinness or some other dark beer ribs in the crockpot. This year he wasn't as willing to give up his beer for something he wouldn't be eating. I didn't have any broth to substitute, and I didn't want to use water. So I raided the liquor cabinet. Whiskey was out the question, but what about red wine? People cook with red wine all the time, why not ribs? I dumped in half a bottle, turned the crockpot on and went about my business. It did occur to me to look up if this was a thing and did I just ruin my ribs? Apparently it is and it tastes DELICIOUS. 

I don't have any pictures of my own as I am not particularly great at making food look good. So here's the general idea:

source

I did not follow the recipe from anywhere, except what was in my head. I'm sure there are much better ones out there, but this worked for me.

1 - family pack of ribs

1 - medium onion sliced

4 - cloves of garlic thick cut

1/2 bottle of red wine (I used cabernet sauvignon)

whatever seasonings you want (I used Flavor God's Honey BBQ and Pink Peppercorn/Himalayan Salt)

Once the onions and garlic were cut up, I threw them in the crockpot. I tossed in the ribs and covered them in Flavor God (side note, I use these because I'm lazy and they make my life easier, just using one bottle, sometimes two.) Snapped on some gloves and went to work mixing these all up and massaging everything into the ribs. I covered the ribs with the red wine,which ended up being half a bottle for me. You can mix in broth or water if you don't want to use all wine. I figured it would pull in more of the wine flavor if I didn't dilute with anything, so I left it alone. I cooked these on high in the crockpot for about 4 hours. The meat was juicy and falling off the bone. It shredded so easily. I actually like this better than using the beer. Win for me.

Any recipe substitutions you've used in a pinch that worked out for you? Or maybe didn't?

- L