Yesterday was the Butcher’s Birthday, and what a day it was. The day before we had 
just discovered we had a family of raccoons living in our crawl space. We met one of the little critters last night. I have been fighting laryngitis, and I finally lost the fight yesterday. It really wasn’t starting off to be a great day. The Butcher had requested barbecued ribs for dinner. I got into the store yesterday morning, and brought him donuts. The Butcher loves his sweets. I brought in my crock pot, my Smokey barbecue Seasoning, and baked potatoes washed, rolled in butter, sprinkled with coarse salt, and wrapped in aluminum foil. As I wrestled all of this paraphernalia into the meat market, the Butcher informs me that we don’t have to have barbecued ribs for dinner. I took on the demeanor of a “mad” woman and told him we were going to have barbecued ribs for dinner. This conversation is reminiscent of parents taking their kids to Disney World. The kids don’t really want to be there. The lines are long. It is hot. They are whining. The parents are yelling at the kids that they are at Disney World and they are going to have a good time, whether they like it or not. The Butcher is one smart man. He knew he was going to have the ribs and enjoy them whether he liked them or not.
Barbecue Pork Ribs 
2 Pork Ribs cut into 2 bone servings
2 Tablespoons Smokey Barbecue Seasoning Rub
1 to 2 Bottles of Old Fashioned Barbecue Sauce
The Butcher very nicely took 2 meaty pork spare ribs and cut them into two bone pieces. I rubbed the pieces with the 2 Tablespoons of Smokey Barbecue Seasoning and put them in the crock pot. I cooked them on high for approximately 4 1/2 hours. I then removed the ribs from the crock pot and drained the juice. I returned the ribs to the crock pot and covered them with 1 
bottle of barbecue sauce. If you prefer unsauced ribs, you can eliminate the barbeque sauce. If you like yours saucy (like the Butcher and I) you can add a second bottle of barbecue sauce about 1 hour before you are going to serve them. I added the baked potatoes at this point, and put the crock pot back on high to continue cooking. At 5:00 when I left the meat market the potatoes were not done. I heated the oven to 375 and cooked them for 45 minutes in the oven until they were done. Next time, I will put the wrapped baked potatoes in the crock pot from the beginning. I can remove them and reheat them once they have finished cooking.
All told, I cooked the ribs for about 8 hours in the crock pot on high.
I picked up some cole slaw in a bag and blended Mayonaise, sugar, vinegar together to make dressing and voila, we had coleslaw.
The dinner turned out good. In fact, tonight we are having leftovers, and I think we will enjoy it even more tonight–not nearly so much drama today!
Until next time…From our Butcher Block to your Table.