4th of July

Obviously this is a month delayed, but I took the pictures so I might as well blog about them =)

I think it is now an established H.o.P. tradition to celebrate the 4th of July at Smooth Obturator and Triple T's pad by the beach since you can see multiple fireworks shows from the neighboring cities.  I think last year we did steak, but this year my brother wanted to do ribs and bbq chicken.

The rubs were prepped with a dry rub and then smoked for a couple hours on the grill.

They came out quite tender, smokey, and delicious.
 

The chicken was very well prepared since they soaked in brine for a full night before being rubbed in two different dry rubs, one home made and one store bought.  I actually preferred the store bought one, but I can't remember why.  Either way, it was the brining that made all the difference.  The meat was just sooooo darn juicy!  You think just throwing some dark meat on the grill is the key to good bbq chicken, but now I know the secret!  BRINE BRINE BRINE!

Triple T made her own bbq sauce and I was quite impressed!

She also tried out a new recipe for curried cauliflower with toasted almonds.  I liked the concept but the curry flavor didn't come through.  I think they got the curry powder at Whole Foods.  Next time better go to Little India for such spices!

Mama H.o.P. of course brought the corn.  She loooooves corn.  The corn was really sweet and crunchy and I'm glad she added this to round out the meal.

Our meal was unusually monotone.  We are a vegetable loving family but no green made it to the plate save for the little leaves of cilantro.  All in all, it was a good plate of bbq.

This was my very sad sad saaaad contribution to the evenings' meal.  I had been wanting to try a recipe from Tasting Table for salted caramel budino.  The recipe seemed easy enough but in retrospect it had components that need some practiced hands.  Making your own caramel?  I did it before, but many years ago so this one sorta burned and it was super salty.  I think we used the wrong kind of salt.  Making custard?  It's all about texture, and mine turned out all lumpy.  I was soo bummed out.

Although, none of us enjoyed the dessert (my mom did not hide her disgust one bit), the leftovers were throughly enjoyed by Grandma H.o.P.  She loves ANYTHING sweet and she has non existent dentition so it was really the right thing for her, haha.

Let's hope I can celebrate 4th of July next year with the H.o.P. again.