BBQ SAUCE, MY VERSION

BECOS BTT and I are typical millennials who have issues with food, I sometimes have to create my own recipes for things that make us feel unwell or unhealthy.  After a couple years of my husband complaining of heartburn every time he ate his beloved Sweet Baby Rays barbecue sauce, I finally figured out that there was something I could do about it: make my own. I did a bunch of googling and tried different recipes, even recipes for supposedly copy cat Sweet Baby Rays. None were exactly what I (/we) was looking for, so I decided to take the base ingredients and work from that to create my own recipe. I’ve had more time to cook, or, more specifically, more time to document my cooking, in the past 8 months, and I’ve loved the freedom to experiment, then perfect. Getting BTT to be honest and objective about each one was the hard part, and my recipe is still evolving, but we both like the current version and it doesn’t make either of us sick. Best of all for me (becos I admire versatility above most things) it can be edited to taste: a dash more vinegar for a sour sauce, a couple tablespoons more sugar for a sweet one, double the molasses for a richer sauce, dump the pepper flakes instead of measuring for some spiciness. You know what I mean. So. I thought this would be a perfect accompaniment for the blackened chicken recipe I posted the other day (bbq chicken and pineapple quesadillas come to mind😍). And without further ado I present:

BBQ SAUCE, MY VERSION 

                     INGREDIENTS

3/4 CUP | 150G BROWN SUGAR

2 CUPS | 650G KETCHUP 

1/2 CUP | 140G WATER (use less water to make a thicker sauce)

1/2 CUP | 117G APPLE CIDER VINEGAR 

1/4 CUP | 90G MOLASSES 

3 TBSP | 85G COFFEE

1 TBSP | 9G   MINCED GARLIC 

1 TBSP | 20G  WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE 

1 TSP | 7G   SALT

1 TSP | 2G   PEPPER

1 TSP | 3G   PAPRIKA 

1 TSP | 2G   MUSTARD POWDER

1/2 TSP | 1G  RED PEPPER FLAKES

*updated 21|03|22 to include weight measurements! I was getting frustrated using so many different measuring instruments to make this. Now I can just plop my pot on my gram scale, zero it out, and then add all the ingredients directly to the pot, measuring by weight rather than amount. Maybe someone else can benefit by this too. The G by each numeral stands for GRAMS.*

DIRECTIONS 

1. IN A POT, WHISK EVERYTHING TOGETHER.
2. BRING TO A BOIL, STIRRING WELL
3. TASTE. 
4. ADJUST FLAVOUR IF NECESSARY.
5. SIMMER ON LOW HEAT FOR 20 MIN TO THICKEN. STIR PERIODICALLY SO IT DOESN’T STICK ON. (If you don’t mind very thin bbq sauce, this step can be skipped. Half the time I’m too lazy or too hurried to bother with it.)
6. COOL.
7. USE LIKE YOU WOULD ANY OTHER BBQ SAUCE. (My new favourite use is for garnish on things like ham and pineapple pizza. My little neighbour girls helped me use it to garnish pork tacos while playing restaurant, and that’s something I’d def use it for again.)
8. STORE. (I’ve real success storing it. In the fridge, it has been edible for up to 2 months, possibly more. Becos of this I can make large batches, pour it into glass bottles, and have it on hand at all times.)

Accidentally Blackened Chicken

Accidentally Blackened Chicken, the Recipe

I love it when I create delicious things by accident. I cannot even remember how I came up with this or by what miracle I was semi able to remember the method and ingredients I used well enough to duplicate. (Is my memory better than I remembered it to be ?) But I do know that it slowly evolved from something similar I once tried involving parmesan and oregano and of course garlic.  I felt so excited when, after making this recipe the second time, I realized this was actually something legit. It validated my concoction, knowing that others have come up with almost the exact same recipe I have.

THINGS YOU WILL NEED:

Paprika, approximately 2tsp per chicken breast 

Minced garlic, approximately 1 tsp per chicken breast (garlic powder can be subbed, but I feel like the undried form adds an unmatchable sweet/spicy layer of flavour to this recipe)

Oregano, approximately 1-2 tsp per chicken breast

Parsley, approximately 1-2 tsp per chicken breast 

Onion powder,  1/2 -1 tsp per chicken breast

Salt, a couple sprinkles per chicken breast 

Pepper, a couple sprinkles per chicken breast. (Me being the haphazard cook I amI usually forget to add this)

Chicken breasts, however many you choose to make 

Cooking oil, butter, or, best of all, bacon grease

Water

Cast iron skillet

Lid that fits on top of pan

1. Coat pan in a thin layer of whatever oil you decided to use. Place pan over medium to medium-high heat. 
2. Rub chicken with a light layer of oil. You can do this with a brush or your fingers, or you can use my lazy girl method: rub the chicken breast around on the already oiled pan so it gets a tiny bit of oil. it doesn’t have to be much, just enough so at least some of the spices will stick. 
3. Now put the spices on the chicken. You can mix all the spices and roll the chicken in the mixture, or you can use another one of my lazy girl shortcuts: rub one side of chicken with garlic, then sprinkle the other spices over top, one at a time. Flip the chicken over and repeat with the other side. I do this whole process with the chicken sitting in the pan, so all the excess spices end up at the bottom of the pan. This is a good thing. The end result should be some caramelized spices left on the bottom of the pan
4. Sear chicken on one side until deep brown; flip and repeat with the other side. Once both sides of the chicken are beautifully browned, add water to the pan (so there’s about an inch of water sitting in the pan), cover the pan with a lid  and turn down heat. Let cook for 10-15 minutes, Then uncover and leave it to simmer until water evaporates; even if you’re not watching it, you can usually tell that the water is gone by the crackling sound of the chicken starting to sizzle. Becos I don’t have a meat thermometer, I usually cut into the chicken to make sure it’s cooked through.
5. ReCover and Let the chicken cool for an amount of time. This step isn’t crucial, but it’s ideal. I think there’s maybe even a science behind it involving juices running back into the meat to making it moister, but don’t quote me on that. Once it’s cooled slightly, cut it into super thin slices. Or if you’re into eating whole chicken breasts, serve it that way. Don’t forget to scrape out the delish  caramelized spices left on the bottom of the pan along with the chicken itself.
6. Now eat it. Or hoard it. It tastes good even better cold for lunch the next day. Maybe you could even slice and freeze it for quick pastas, although this I haven’t tried myself. 
7. Ways to use it: 

BBQ chicken pizza.

Pasta.

Soup.

Sandwiches. with butternut squash.

Stir fries and spring roll fillings.

Bowls of many kinds.

Salads. Specifically chicken Caesar salad, my fave. Can be made into:

Wraps.

Tacos. This makes really delish tacos. Believe me.

Also Other things that I haven’t thought of or have forgotten or don’t know about. 

Sometimes (the nicest thing you can do is nothing)

         (written June, 2019)

       So my husband and I have a nice ritual in warm months. We walk or ride bike almost every evening. We often detour through our garden a couple blocks away but there are a couple ways to get there -the short cut, which involves portaging our bikes over the train tracks (my husband’s preferred route), or the long way, which involves a couple blocks of backtracking.  

          Tonight we went via my route and then returned the same way. When I realized that I said, “You never even suggested going over the tracks.”  

            “I was trying to be nice to you,” BTT replied. 

            And he was. And it worked. And it made me happy And then it struck me as ironic how not doing something can actually be the kind thing. And that reminded me of something I did -or didn’t do- for him. 

      I guess we’ve lived together long enough by now that we know each other’s habits and rituals and even get annoyed at the things the other one does. Most days I like BTT’s love of taking the long way home, looping through town, driving around. Some days though I’m all, “can’t we just go home already!!??” Today was one of those days. But some tiny voice inside me said, “it doesn’t really matter. Just be quiet today and enjoy this; you’ll get home soon enough.” And I did. And we did. 

       But that wasn’t the end of my musings. That reminded me of one of my students, M. He’s a typical 12yr old boy: fun, silly, busy, and extra mischievous. This week of school, one of the most stressful of the year wherein I felt more like a lion tamer than a school teacher, he was sweet, compassionate, and, most of all, he wasn’t naughty. I’m not saying he’s usually a bad boy; not at all. I’m just saying that he usually keeps me on my toes and gives me a run for my money. But this week, he didn’t. 

     

      Here I am, over a year later, doing fewer things than ever for the sake of other’s (and my own) safety and health: Not doing unnecessary shopping, not visiting friends and family like I normally would, not venturing too far from home. I feel like the the inspiration for this post (the words in the title) must have been a quote from a book I read, but, honestly, I don’t remember anymore. My notes say I wrote this in June 2019; I rediscovered it the other day while exploring all my accumulated writings and lists and notes on my phone, and I fell in love with the idea all over again. So here it is.

Small Town Drama

 Election 2020, Smalltown, Saskatchewan 

While most of you were sitting on pins and needles these last few weeks staring at the spotlight the United States of America was monopolizing, the 70 residents of my town had their focus on a similarly dramatic election taking place on a much smaller scale in this little village. And when I say village, don’t think sleepy, serene, pleasant, picturesque. While it might appear that way if you just drive through here (and if you do this, please, watch your speedometer! Though you may not see them, people will be peering though slits in their curtains and will absolutely report you to the authorities if they think you might be going even 1 kilometre over speed limit.) looks are deceiving. If you’re going to imagine my village, imagine calm on the surface, but when no one is looking, it shows it’s true Wild West colours, and where almost everyone fits into one or more of the following categories: crotchety old person, drunkard, thief, drug dealer/user. I am a big believer in not labeling people, and I do try to remain objective, but when people repeat their actions enough times it gets pretty difficult not to toss them into corresponding boxes. I have gotten to know some of these people personally and become friends with them, and only then do I realize that they are humans with good deeds and fun personalities instead of just calling them by their boxes. On to the elections now. 

We have a neighbor. I may have written about him before. BTT was friends with this neighbour, named PK, before I ever met him and has made a point to spend time with this man, who always seems to need a friend/ listening automaton, once or twice a week. PK is the village everything-man. He grades the roads, mows the grass, fixes whatever is broken, purifies the water, fills in the potholes, keeps the pipes clean, along with more jobs that I probably don’t even know about or else forget.  He does everything, for next to no pay. He is 80 years old. He also fights with everyone in the town. This is the problem. This is also a long story. And it’s also everyone else’s fault. This is probably true, at least 50% of the time. People swear at PK daily as he drives through the town minding his own business while also doing his best to poke his nose into theirs. They disagree with his admittedly biased and unwavering  opinions. They purposely drive within inches of him as he works hard each spring putting in speed bumps to annoy the populace.  And these are just the things BTT and I have witnessed with our own eyes/ears in our years of living in this town. Is he an annoying, confrontational, over opinionated, uncouth old man ? (Check out how many boxes I think he fits in!) Absolutely. Is he harmless, generous, and, dare I say, thoughtful and kind to the people who respect him? There isn’t a doubt! Look at the way he dotes on T, or how he is at school every winter in time to give the kids access to the fire hydrant to flood their rink, or how he loves to treat us (and especially BTT) to restaurant food whenever he can spare the money. Moving on.

Like in every election, this town had the good guys and the bad guys. Which party you thought fit the good guys title depended, like usual, who’s side you were on. 

PARTY 1 CAMPAIGN 

*mayoral candidate refuses to show criminal record check 

*mayoral candidate also being investigated for embezzlement after all taxes for the years she worked as administrator in the town office mysteriously unaccounted for

*husband of mayoral candidate fired from job working alongside aforementioned PK after doubling the amount of hours he actually worked when it came time to be paid

*plans to fire PK the annoying town man IMMEDIATELY and hire ???? Mayoral Candidate’s husband??? to take his place

PART 2 CAMPAIGN

*no criminal records or police investigations

*will not fire PK

*basically only running for the sake of opposition, so evil will not prevail by default 

Guess who won. The lethargic good did not triumph in our small town this year, But The losers aren’t happy. There are angry notes left  on the town office door criticizing the new mayor and complimenting the people who did NOT vote for her. Unhappy citizens are predicting the immanent dire downfall of this already fallen Village. The town admin, who says she will not work for the new “government,” is threatening to quit. My husband and I  have faced some criticism for our stance on remaining uninvolved in politics and voting; PK especially spoke very harshly to Brent about that, but then he called the next day to apologize and make sure their friendship was still intact.

This is life in rural Saskatchewan: Pettiness and drama with a touch of the Wild West hovering in its darker corners. 

*literary liberty was taken in this writing. Events may have been emphasized, but each happening is factual (to the best of my knowledge) and likely more dramatic than my words can even convey. 

Words from Thunder

a tribute to Kokum, lover and caregiver of so many children. . . . . .  

Mask Factory

Twilight is a mask factory. 

All the masks have a common factor: they consist largely of layer upon layer of carefully sculpted shadows. 

Every person, building, animal is masquerading. A common house morphs into an illegal drugstore; a school, emptied of its children, becomes a echo chamber of silence. A regal moose stands invisibly in the middle of the road wearing a camouflage mask of darkness, an accident in the making. Shadow-masks make innocent buildings into menaces, make daytime scenarios into mysteries. A clear pool of water wears a mirrored mask  of moonlight. A layer of ice looks deceptively like water, even though headlights do a pretty good job of penetrating the shadow-mask. Train whistles in the thick night air are garbled and also carry eerily, just like a person at Walmart trying to make conversation while wearing a facemask. In a shadow-mask, the scattered lights of local villages make them appear to be the towns they aspire to be. Predators love masks: for example, no one ever sees the cougar said to be roaming locally even though they hear him/her; his mask is as effective as we wish ours was. Some masks aren’t effective: in the mask of darkness, hoods on teenagers conceal faces, but their stance and gait give them away to people who know them; strange shadows merge into familiar every day landmarks when you look twice. Situations are distorted by shadow-masks too. A shout makes me think a fight is about to happen when in reality someone is just venting frustration. A vehicle parked beside the road with no lights is suspicious until I realize it was abandoned becos it hit a deer and does not contain a sneaky drug dealer. 

Twilight masks faces too. And emotions. But that is a conversation for another day becos this is Enough metaphorical masks for tonight. Twilight really is a mask factory, though. 

Not just on Halloween.

Not just during a pandemic. 

Advocate for Women, Everywhere, Forever

A woman going for water for her family, condemned and simultaneously forgiven

A woman humiliated by an angry, self assured, self appointed panel of judges, all men, rescued by a few quiet words from a Kind Stranger

A duo of women, mourning their dead brother, soon rejoiced as he walked out of his tomb, alive 

A woman, overworked, stressed, trying to do everything like women everywhere have been doing for centuries, invited to relax, to rest, to relinquish her worries, and rejuvenate at His feet 

A woman took a stranger into her home and shared the last of her food with him, knowing her and her son would just die a little faster that way. Miraculously, her flour bin continued to stay full day after day 

A woman lived a girl’s dream when she a Queen; even when Queening became a nightmare, she was safe and loved and managed to stop a genocide. You think she did all that without some Help? 

I know so many stories of women who have been hurt, mistreated, abused, repressed in so many horrible ways. But through the thousands of years these terrible things have been perpetuated, there’s been Someone Advocating for Women all along. To all the Women reading this. Don’t ever doubt it. He is your Advocate. He wants all the good things for you: peace, like The Woman At The Well found;  security, like He gave to the woman at the temple about to be stoned; Happiness, like Mary and Martha felt when Lazarus walked out of his tomb; the absence of worry He encouraged Martha to accept; Enough to share, like the widow who fed Elijah even when she herself was starving; Courage like Queen Esther. 

I know that each of you have experienced bad things. I also know that you have surely experienced this Advocacy in your own life. Don’t ever be afraid to tell these stories. I think our Advocate likes it if we talk about the good things He does for us. And just like the women I referred to above, your story might remind other people that even when it seems like no one cares, there’s someone quietly looking out for you.