This is what's for dinner tonight (July 7th)

From "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives cookbook"

Beef Brisket

1 beef brisket (2-3 lbs)
garlic powder (or granulated garlic if you have it)
fresh ground pepper
MoGridder's Dry Rub Barbecue Seasoning (recipe follows)
MoGridder's Barbecue Sauce (recipe follows)

Season the brisked with garlic powder, pepper, and barbecue seasoning. Wrap the brisket in foil tightly seales so no juices can leak out. I lay one sheet horizontal and one sheet vertical and gather it together at the top. Bake for 6-8 hours (I prefer 8 hrs) on 225. Remove from oven and let rest. Serve with barbecue sauce.


Barbecue Seasoning recipe (makes about a cup...store the rest in a glass jar for later use):
2 1/2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp garlic powder (again can use granulated garlic)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme

Barbecue Sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp kosher salt
2 to 3 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup molasses
1 cup ketchup
3/4 cup mustard
1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional...we like ours spicey so i put a full tsp but be careful)

Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium nonreactive saucepan. Stir in enough of the vinegar to make a loose paster. You will probably not use the whole amount. I ended up using about 1/4 cup. Combine the remaining ingredients and incorporate well. Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until thick. Enjoy!!

God is good.

You know those times in your life when you are not sure when something is going to work out. You know God is going to take care of it, but you are still struggling with it all. Well, I have been struggling with not having a church home. We will have lived in Raleigh for a year come the end of this month. About a month or so ago, Chris and I had a long talk about what our next step was going to be. We were both emotionally exhausted from church hunting. We were just having a hard time not comparing every church to our last church (which we still miss dearly).

We decided that we just needed to commit to one of our favorite churches and dive in. We narrowed it down to two churches, ultimatley choosing the church that is closest to our house and the one our neighbors attend. We are now regularly attending The Summit. We are positive that the Summit is where God wants us to be. We weren't positive when we first committed to it, but after JUST a few weeks it became clear. God is so good. I am already singing in the choir which is so fun! My neighbor friend and I are leading the worship this week for Route56 (5th and 6th grade) during VBS. We are having a blast! As soon as Chris' schedule will allow, he is also planning on getting plugged in (hopefully helping with the youth in some way). God is doing great things at the Summit and I can't wait to be a very small part of it! Praise the Lord for His faithfulness!

This is what's for dinner (June 8)

Chicken and Potatoes in the Oven (Rachael Ray)

1 package chicken pieces, bone in, skin on or 1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces (2 thighs, 2 legs, 2 breast pieces cut in half)
1 1/3 pounds small yukon gold potatoes, quartered
8 to 10 cloves garlic, crushed
3 sprigs rosemary, leaves removed, roughly chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) for drizzling
Salt and pepper
A healthy drizzle of the liquid or juice found in a jar of hot peppers (use any kind of peppers such as hot yellow pepper rings, hot cherry peppers or whatever you keep in your fridge

Preheat oven 425°F.
In a roasting pan, combine the chicken, potatoes, garlic and rosemary. Drizzle liberally with EVOO and season with some salt and pepper. Toss the chicken pieces to coat them thoroughly then place them in an even layer on the bottom of the roasting pan.
Transfer to the oven and roast for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear. Remove from the oven and immediately drizzle with a little hot pepper juice and top with a couple of the yellow hot pepper rings.




I added some asparagus to the pan and rolled it around in the evoo so the kids would have a veggie. I also made gravy out of the pan juices to pour over top. It is a great recipe and super easy!!