Best Laid Plans

My wife works really hard all year long. With the exception of her annual girls weekend to the beach she is on call 24/7 with the additional burden of often being the sole contact for all family matters due to my frequent travel schedule.

Every once in a while I actually take a little time to try and do something special for her. Today was another example.

We had discussed for days what to have for our meals during the holiday season. It was all planned so that we she would not have to run to the store at the last minute. Today’s dinner was to be ribs but we had debated until early this afternoon how exactly they would be prepared.

Usually we smoke the ribs, they are a family favorite. As our debate lasted until noon we realized that we were already destined to eat a late dinner if we followed through on the routine or if we were willing to experiment we could eat at a decent time and still have a nice evening with the kids.

Normally, I cook anything outside, she cooks inside. Today, without discussion I took control of the experimental Dr. Pepper pork ribs. 

The recipe was followed exactly with a dry rub mixture applied to the ribs cooked for an hour and a half. During this time I whipped up the glaze and reduced it down to a syrupy consistency to be applied several times during the final hour of cooking.

The rack was cut into thirds. At each stage my wife checked in. She suggested for the rub that I go light on one portion of the ribs. When I began applying the glaze she also suggested varying quantities for each portion. During the last coating she again commented that one portion should be lightly coated.

I didn’t listen.

My son was the first to taste the sauce with the tip of his finger. Based on the convulsions that he experienced I knew the dinner was going to be questionable. As  my wife was sitting down and in full denial I dove into a rib which was very tender. The meat fell from the bone as I gobbled it up into my mouth. The flavor was actually quite nice… until the bite of the cayenne pepper caught up with my taste buds.

I was the only one that actually downed two whole ribs. The good news is that my sinuses will be clear for several days. The bad news is that we I wasted an entire rack of ribs!

Experimenting with new foods and tastes is always a pleasure for me. Wasting money is painful. But for the cost of the meal I did learn two important lessons. 1) My wife should be doing the cooking and 2) When I am too pigheaded to follow the first point, I should heed my wife’s advice!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Now I have to stop by the fridge to turn the turkey which is marinating in the experimental seasoning I decided to try this year…

 

Carnivals that have featured Eliminate The Muda posts this week include:

 Money Hacks Carnival – Hosted by $Own the Dollar – This week’s carnival is built around the Holiday Theme. Not only does it provide links to some great articles it also provides some interesting information on  the history of the Holiday season. Honestly I have only taken a moment to peek at this blog but I will definitely be checking it out further. You should too!

Carnival of Money Stories – Hosted by Almost Frugal – This week is my introduction to Almost Frugal. Anything frugal excites me as does this blog. Stop by and take a peek, I think it is a blog we will both be adding to our RSS feeds

Carnival of Personal Finance – Hosted by the MightyBargainHunter – MBH is a blog I check regularly and is always filled with good information. This week MBH hosts a one-stop shop of Personal Finance information for the week. Regardless of your question or personal financial difficulty there is likely an answer in this list of blog posts.

If you like to be challenged to see things with a fresh perspective, if you like to learn new ideas and different concepts, sign up for my RSS feed or enter your email address here to receive updates directly to your inbox.