Dinner at home with friends

Tonight Jerry made his famous barbecue beef ribs for dinner with two special friends from Saskatchewan who come to Palm Springs for a few months every year to escape the cold.

The ribs were excellent - very tasty and tender. As usual, Jerry didn't follow any particular recipe, but they turned out very well. If any of you are interested, here's how he made them:

He covered the beef ribs (about 5-6 pounds) with water and a couple of cups of vingear and par-boiled them gently in a large covered saucepan for about an hour. While the ribs were simmering, he took a bottle of mesquite barbecue sauce (almost any barbecue sauce would do) and mixed it with the juice of two lemons. He added a couple of packets of splenda for a little extra sweetness.

Once the ribs had par-boiled, Jerry drained them and brought them out to the barbecue. The ribs were pretty much cooked, but now needed to be browned. After turning them a couple of times, he brushed on barbecue sauce and continued cooking for just a couple of minutes before arranging them on a platter and serving them. Really, they were fantastic and not a lot of work. If you don't want to barbecue them, you can put them into a baking pan, cover with barbecue sauce and bake covered in a preheated slow oven (300-325 degrees F) for a couple of hours. You may need to add a little water (cup or so) to avoid sticking.