Boo on that weekend. As predicted, it stormed the better part of my free days. Went from 70 and sunny on Friday to rain all day Saturday and most of Sunday. Saturday it even dumped snow for a while. IT’S MAY!! STOP SNOWING!! I guess that’s why they say not to plant your garden until Mother’s Day up here. Luckily, we heeded that advice this year.

Given the horrible weather, we stayed cooped up in the house for the most part. We did go out Thursday, but that’s not the weekend. Worth a mention, all the same. I made a bet with a buddy on the Super Bowl game, with the winner getting dinner at Amore Mio. I’d call it my favorite place to eat here locally. If you happened to catch the Food Network special on Placerville, it was on there. Pretty fantastic food, we’ve loved it every time we’ve been. I was a little worried we were in for a letdown, because it was very crowded and we had a table of 6, but the owner took good care of us. Another awesome dinner, and having my friend pick up the tab was a welcome bonus. They should have won on the show, or at least been picked over the BBQ place. (That ‘que is… not good.)

Saturday the rain started, and did not let up all day. Well, except when it was snowing I guess. I spent my afternoon working on a paella dish I’ve been wanting to make. Not the fancy-schmancy paella with all the seafood, just simple chicken paella. This is more the style in Valencia, Spain, which I am much more familiar with. OK, actually I’m just far too “thrifty” to pay for all that shellfish, nor was I about to go out in the weather to find it. It came out pretty well, even Donette was a fan. (She doesn’t always approve of my odd recipe experiments.) It’s on the keeper list.

Sunday, the project of the day was ribs. I saw one of my BBQ idols do ribs slathered in birria sauce the other day, and decided to give that one a shot. Added bonus, ribs were on sale at the butcher shop, so that made up my mind. I was able to fire up the Traeger under the cover of the patio, and stayed mostly dry. Between making the sauce and smoking the ribs, that project managed to keep me occupied the better part of the day. I was quite happy with the end result, I’d make them again. Donette inferred she would just as soon have regular ol’ smoked ribs, but I thought they were great. One thing we both agreed on, the slab of ribs from the butcher shop were fantastic. Even on sale they weren’t exactly cheap, so I was glad they didn’t turn out terrible.

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