the best ribs ever

Once again, it's been TOO HOT to do anything. I'm sitting here, sweating. and it's 9pm. In September! Come on, summer, let's get a move on.
I've been busy, still getting back into the swing of things from vacation, hanging out, playing in the kitchen. My newest development is that I've been making jams and jellies and preserves and I even tried pickles. Which I haven't tasted yet so I don't know if they're actually delicious. But they look beautiful. A girl I work with mentioned to me that she makes her own jams and cans them. As someone who's recently discovering she loves old cookbooks and old traditions, I of course am terribly intrigued. She tells me its really easy, which I of course don't believe for a second, so I go read through my cookbooks, new and old (the brand new edition of the Joy of Cooking brought back their canning section, while the last printing, I think 2000, removed it) as well as scouring the internet. Turns out she was right, it IS easy. I went out and bought a bunch of plums and peaches and made them into jams and preserves. Then I made some pickles. Then some lemon jelly. Today I made Elise's Spicy Fig Orange Microwave Jam which was delicious. I also made some fig-plum jam, and some orange-plum spice jam.
This coming weekend is the Fleischer Art School flea market, where my roommate Sarah and I will have a table set up where we'll be selling some of her artwork (or, stuff) and my cookies, cupcakes, and banana breads, as well as jams and jellies. I'm super excited, I took the weekend off to bake and jam and hang out. maybe I'll make some money too! If anyone lives in the Philly area, come buy some cookies from me on Sunday at the Fleischer parking lot around 7th and Catherine.
I wanted to start this post off with a picture of the dinner Alex made me on Saturday, but the picture he took was blurry so instead I'll post a picture of my bike, which he spent a bunch of money on without me asking him to, and bought me two new wheels and took a bunch of stuff off and spent a long time working on my bike to make it lighter and ride better. THEN he made me delicious dinner, garlic pork tenderloin and spinach with mushrooms. Then he probably gave me a back rub. The point is, he's a really good boyfriend and I appreciate him a ton.




Orange Maple Chili Ribs

1 c fresh-squeeze orange juice (it's ok if you use store OJ but it's best with fresh)
zest from one orange (about a Tablespoon)
1 t chili flakes
1/2 t coriander (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
3 cloves garlic, minced fine (I've been cheating and using Trader Joe's jarred minced garlic)
1/4 c maple syrup (not the imitation kind)
2-4 lbs ribs

Mix together all the ingredients except the maple syrup, coat the meat in the OJ marinade. Let sit in the fridge for 3-6 hours, turning occasionally. Preheat the oven to 250, pour off the marinade into a saucepan, and cover ribs with foil. While ribs are cooking, cook down the marinade with the maple syrup (you can substitute brown sugar if you don't have maple syrup, but you won't get the maple flavor) until its reduced by about half, and thick and syrupy. Bake meat for about 3 hours, when the meat is tender remove the foil and brush with the glaze. Broil for a minute or two or three, until ribs are browned.

The salad next to the ribs was a quick buckwheat pilaf thing I threw together, that was really good. I cooked the buckwheat in a tomatoey soup from the night before, scraped the kernels from an ear of fresh corn, threw in a jalapeño, and cooked it together really quick.

Please, if you're somewhere cooler than 90 degrees, send some of your cold weather towards here. I'm melting.