The Cakes of Wrath

by Jacklyn Brady

  Plan on 1 hour of smoking per pound of ribs. You can smoke each full rack for around 4 hours, or even more. Don’t try to rush the results by raising the temperature to speed up the cooking time. Cooking your pork on a higher temperature will result in tough, chewy meat.

  During the last 30 minutes of cooking, you can begin to brush the ribs with a glaze or sauce—but Rubio doesn’t know why you’d want to.

  Your ribs are done when you can easily pull the meat from the bones. The internal temperature should register at least 165ºF. Remove the meat from the smoker and let the ribs rest as you would any meat. Wait at least 10 to 15 minutes before cutting in.

  To serve: Cut down the middle of each strip of meat between each rib bone. Serve the smoked ribs plain (delicious) or with your choice of sauce.

  • • •

  Rita’s Blueberry Muffins

  This recipe produces 8 deli-sized muffins topped with a cinnamon-sugar crumb topping. Fill the muffins cups to the top edge for the oversized muffins. You can change it up by adding extra blueberries if you’re a real blueberry fan.

  MUFFINS

  1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

  3/4 cup sugar

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  2 teaspoons baking powder

  1/3 cup vegetable oil

  1 egg

  1/3 cup milk

  1 cup fresh blueberries

  TOPPING

  1/2 cup white sugar

  1/3 cup all-purpose flour

  1/4 cup butter, cubed

  1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

  Preheat oven to 400ºF. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

  Make the muffin batter by combining flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Measure the 1/3 cup vegetable oil in a 1-cup measure. Add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix the liquid ingredients with the flour mixture and then gently fold in the blueberries.

  To make the topping, combine all the topping ingredients and mix with a fork. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle evenly with the crumb topping mixture before baking. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until done.

  • • •

  Pecan Balls

  Makes about 4 dozen cookies

  They’ll go fast, so you may want to double the recipe.

  1/2 pound butter (As always, use real butter instead of margarine for the best flavor.)

  4 tablespoons sugar

  2 cups flour

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  1 cup chopped pecans

  2 teaspoons vanilla extract (Real vanilla has a much better flavor than vanilla flavoring.)

  powdered sugar for dusting

  Preheat oven to 350ºF.

  Cream together all the ingredients except the powdered sugar. Roll into small balls about the size of a walnut and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

  Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. While still warm (not hot), roll in the powdered sugar. Roll again when the cookies are completely cooled.