Crock Pot Ribs

Recently, I mentioned this recipe in my menus for the week. Lady m asked how long I cook the ribs for, so I decided to share the recipe again. I am sure the recipe is here in the archives somewhere, but I did a search for it and couldn't find it. So, I will post it once more.

CROCK POT RIBS

3 to 4 pounds of country-style pork ribs
Steak seasoning, lemon pepper or other favorite seasoning to taste
1 cup barbecue sauce

Place ribs in crock pot. Sprinkle liberally with the seasoning of your choice. Lemon pepper is good; Montreal-style steak seasoning is outstanding. Or try one of your own favorites. That's all for now. Don't add anything else to the pot; just the ribs and seasoning. Cover crock pot. Cook ribs all day on Low, or 4 to 5 hours on High.

30 minutes before you are ready to eat, drain off all the liquid from the crock pot. Spread the barbecue sauce over the ribs. Cover crock pot again and continue to cook for 15-30 minutes.

This easy recipe produces some of the tastiest ribs you will ever eat. If you use bone-in ribs, the meat will fall off them. Boneless ribs are even better. This has become a favorite meal in our family! Great with mashed potatoes and coleslaw for a warming winter meal.


* I recently found that it works very well to scrub and pierce several baking potatoes and just place them on top of the ribs before cooking. The potatoes will be done perfectly when the ribs are done. Just remove them and keep them warm while you are doing the last steps of draining the ribs and adding the barbecue sauce. *

That's it! Hope you enjoy the ribs!

A Homemade Life ~ September 12

Here are a couple of homemade items to share. First, a fall-themed placemat purse. Several years ago, I found a pattern for a purse made from a placemat and these lovely fall placemats. This is very simple, just fold the placemat right sides together and stitch up the sides, then attach grosgrain ribbon or whatever you like for handles (I cut mine about 17") and, if you like, some sort of button, snap, etc. for a closure at the top. If you like, you can line the purse by adding another, thinner placemat or a coordinating cloth napkin. If you leave the lining unattached at the top, that serves as inside pockets.

This shows how the purse can sit flat by means of simply folding and stitching across the ends of the bottom seam on the inside.

This is not new, but I've never used it or shown a photo of it, so thought I would. I made this several years ago. It's a fall-themed tote using different leafy fabrics. I love the dark red patches on the corners.

This tote will sit flat too, owing to a piece of fabric-covered plastic canvas (for washability) in the bottom. This photo shows the lining fabric better and also the ribbon ties that hold it closed at the top if needed.

That's my simple homemade life post for today. If you would like to see other homemade ideas, be sure and check out Life on a Back Road. You will find lots of inspiration there!

A second little tote

Well, I've just completed a second little library tote! My older granddaughter did not ask for a tote, nor did she need one, since she has a Bible case which holds quite a bit. But since they both started Patch the Pirate Club on Wednesday evening, we quickly came to the conclusion that she needed one of these totes also. Things were spilling all over the car on the way home! It was obvious that they both needed a tote.

So I set to work to make one. This little tote was a dishtowel this morning! (It came in a set with the flowered dishtowel that I made the first tote from.)

Fun! If some of you try out this pattern, let me know what you think!

Show & Tell Friday for September 11

For Show & Tell today, I am sharing one of my treasured cookbooks. I suspect that some of you will be as entranced by this little book as I am.

A book just like this was in our home when I was growing up. I loved to sit and page through it by the hour. I don't recall my mother ever really cooking from it. It had come in a box with the same illustration as the cookbook cover, and it was kept in this box in the cookbook drawer like a very special treasure.

This title page tells a little more about it. Further on, acknowledgment is given to Heloise Frost as the author and compiler of the book and to Ellen A. Nelson as the creator of the gorgeous illustrations. The book is copyright 1951 by Jack Frost Studios.

Here are the illustrations for the different countries. I can't remember the order they are in the book, so will put them in alphabetical order to make it simple. First, America.

The British Isles.

China.

France.

Germany.

Italy.

Poland.

Scandinavia.

Here is a view of what the inside of the book is like. Wonderful illustrations on each page, plus truly practical, delicious-looking recipes. I love that the text is hand-printed.

My copy of the book belonged to my grandmother. I just had to scan this page because it includes her lovely handwriting.

I think I will turn to this book when it comes time for the international covered dish dinner at our church's missions conference this year.

That is my simple Show & Tell for today. To see what others have shared for Show & Tell Friday, head on over to There is No Place Like Home.

Happy Show & Tell Friday!

This week's menu plan...

I like to take part in Menu Plan Monday when I can, but lately I just don't seem to get around to posting menus on Monday. Part of the problem is that I plan my meals from Thursday to Thursday, which is our grocery shopping day. Since I've just finished planning this week's meals, I thought I would share:

THURSDAY: Crab Quiche, Asparagus Mixed Vegetables

FRIDAY: Tomato/Macaroni/Cheese Casserole, Green Beans, Homemade Bread

SATURDAY: Hot Dogs, Homemade Baked Beans, Coleslaw

SUNDAY: Crockpot Ribs, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli Salad

MONDAY: Basque Soup, Cornbread

TUESDAY: Greek Spinach Pie, Greek Potato Salad, 3-Bean Salad

WEDNESDAY: Lasagna in a Bun, Pasta Salad

THURSDAY: Shepherd's Pie, Coleslaw, Baking Powder Biscuits

And there you have it. Always subject to change, of course!

A fun little sewing project

Last weekend, my 6-year-old granddaughter asked me if I could make her a little tote bag so she could have a way to carry her Bible and other items to Sunday School. I was sure I could easily do so, and promised to make one during the week. I spent some time looking through patterns I own, and also searching online, but didn't find anything as small and simple as what I wanted.

Finally I decided to ask the ladies on a crafter's forum I enjoy for their input. Two of them immediately sent this link, which was pretty much just what I was looking for.

little library tote

It was developed as a little tote for kids to use in carrying books to and from the library, and is made from a dish towel. I loved the idea. The hardest part for me was finding suitable dish towels. I finally found a set of three in a kitchen outlet store for only $3. I'm going to keep an eye out for appropriate ones, because I plan to make more of these. They were easy and fun.
I tweaked the pattern just a bit and used 1/2" seams on the tote itself rather than 1/4". I used the 1/4" seams on the handles though. And I had enough fabric left over to add a little pocket to the outside of the tote. There would have been enough for a pocket front and back, but my iron stained one of them, so I only put on one pocket.
All in all, a very cute, fun project. I am thankful both to the writer of the tutorial and the dear ladies who sent me the link. If you should try making one of these, I'm sure you'll have as much fun as I did.

Show & Tell Friday for September 4

Recently Mr. T covered one of our living room walls with pine paneling which he had made. He will eventually do all four walls, but hopes to replace our old windows as he goes, and we don't have those yet. So he decided to begin with the one windowless wall. It turned out beautifully as you can see, and looks so nice with the ceiling which we put up a couple of years ago.
It meant, though, that someone (read me) had to take everything out of these two nice bookcases so they could be moved away from the walls. It was a good time to declutter them. In the process, I found some treasures.

When I was a child, a favorite gift was one which would sometimes be given to me and my siblings at Christmas -- a box full of small coloring and activity books. I came across several of these books and thought they were too cute not to scan and show you.

A Mother Goose coloring book.
A Round the Mulberry Bush activity book.
A Twelve Months coloring book. I'd love to make a sampler like this!
A Little Fire Chief coloring book.
A Playtime coloring book.
I couldn't resist showing some of the inside of this book. To me, the drawings look like Eloise Wilkin's art, but there was no credit given to the artist.

A ballerina and skater.
Girls jumping rope.
These are so adorable, don't you think?

And that is my simple Show & Tell for today. To see what others have shared for Show & Tell Friday, head on over to There is No Place Like Home.

Happy Show & Tell Friday!