Menu
Queso Dip with Tortilla Chips ∙ Key Lime Margaritas
Baby Back Ribs with Sweet and Tangy Homemade Barbecue Sauce
Corn on the Cob ∙ Steamed Green Beans
I always take vacation the week of my birthday in August, and we always go to Cape Cod on the Massachusetts coast. It’s a tradition, but it’s more than that. The Cape is my place, where I go to get recharged and reconnect with myself. When I’m there something in my soul knows I’m home. Do you know what I mean – is there a place that makes you feel that way?
When we made the decision not to go this year because of the pandemic, I felt like I had lost a part of myself. But I put on a smile and took the week off anyway, thinking at least it would be nice to have a break from work, to sit out on my deck and read books, take day trips with John to the Connecticut shore. Maybe visit the new winery on the hill in Glastonbury with the sweeping views of the Connecticut River Valley and the Hartford skyline.
Isaias had other plans. We barely got a drop of rain on our parched gardens from the hurricane (and miraculously never lost power), but the 70 mph winds ravaged the trees in our yard. All around us, roads were blocked for days by downed trees and power lines, businesses were closed with no power. We had so much cleanup to do, it looked like a bomb had gone off. Definitely a contender for the worst vacation ever.
The one bright spot was cooking. Stuck at home – with electricity! – I had plenty of time to play in the kitchen. On Saturday, I made this Tex-Mex/American-style menu centered around soft, succulent baby back ribs painted with the sweetest, tangiest homemade barbecue sauce.
For a starter out on the deck, hot queso dip with tortilla chips and cool margaritas to wash them down.
And for dessert, blueberry pie made with plump juicy native berries.
The Game Plan
- Make the barbecue sauce, and start marinating the ribs the day before.
- You can make the pie crust and bake the pie the day before, or early in the day.
- You can also make the queso dip ahead, or early in the day.
- Put the ribs in the oven 3 hours (or up to 4 hours) before serving.
- While the ribs cook, relax with the queso dip and margaritas.
- Cook the corn and beans at the last minute before dinner.
- For a detailed plan with step-by-step instructions and timing, download the Game Plan document linked below.
Saturday August 8 2020 Game Plan
A big part of our Cape Cod tradition involves music – we have certain albums we play at certain times and in certain places. Always Johnny Cash’s “American IV” when it rains, and the Grateful Dead’s “Reckoning” on the way to the beach. It’s such a habit that whenever we hear those songs at another time of year in another place, we’re instantly transported. And by far the strongest association I have with music and the Cape is the Rolling Stones’ “Voodoo Lounge”, which we time to start playing the minute the Jeep’s tires cross the first abutment and onto the Bourne Bridge, bringing us across the canal and onto the Cape We listen to a lot of Stones on the Cape, and out there with the dunes and the gulls, I’m drawn to their mellower side, like the songs in this Soft Stones playlist – listen on Spotify.
