things that make me go hmm... #3

I was having lunch with a friend recently - she and her husband are having their first child (yay!). I asked her if they are going to find out if it's a boy or a girl, and she told me that they are absolutely not going to find out. They will find out when s/he gets here. That's cool with me - I think the surprise is kind of fun. :)

What I found interesting, though, is she told me that there are some people who are actually upset with them that they aren't finding out the sex of the baby before s/he is born because "How are we supposed to know what to buy you?"  To which she said (to me), "I didn't ask you to buy me anything." and "If we're comfortable planning for our baby without finding out early, you should be able to - or wait - or don't."

I have to say I agree 100% with her. That being said, I'll admit that I'm far from the expert on babies, planning for babies, and pretty much anything babies. But seriously? People get upset because parents-to-be choose how they want to plan for and learn the sex of their baby? I don't get it. Hmm...

Personally, I think it's their choice - it's about them (the parents) and not anyone else. I've had friends who have done various things. Find out and share the news. Find out and not share the news until s/he arrives. Don't find out until s/he is here.

I'm interested in  your thoughts on this because this threw me off a bit.

If you have kids, did people have odd responses to your choice on this?

If you don't have kids (like me), what do you think about this?

Hmm....

Signed: Not a baby expert, but seriously?

ooey-gooey stuffed cupcakes

A couple of weeks ago, it was Mom's birthday and the whole fam was here to visit and to go out on the lake. Mom and I went out to dinner while the boys went to a pre-season Vikings game. The next day, we all went out on the lake for the day - and mom even drove the boat for a while! We, being the good children we are, pretended to be terrified. But I digress... what's a birthday without cake?

Soo... I found a recipe called "Ooey-Gooey Stuffed Cupcakes" by Emeril on the food network website. And, that's pretty much what they were. Ooey. Gooey. Stuffed. Basically a chocolate cupcake with cream cheese and chocolate chips inside.The only thing I did differently was I made this into 12 bigger cupcakes, and per the recipe it's 16.

I think mom enjoyed them for her birthday. :)

I wish I had a good picture of the inside, but I don't. Picture ooey. gooey.

What's your favorite birthday cake?

ribs

Ribs are awesome, but they're not my specialty - they're Keith's. But today, I gave it a shot and he told me what to do while he was gone and it turns out it's not so hard! You take the rack of ribs and put it on tin foil, rub it with a spice rub, turn up the sides of the tinfoil so liquid doesn't run out - because you pour a little wine in there for moisture (I used some red chianti that was leftover). Just a little. I also put some sweet and spicy sauce on half of them to see what happened.

I wasn't ready to bake them, yet, so I put them in the fridge for a few hours, then baked slow at 250 degrees for 2 hours. Then, put them on the grill (checking regularly) for about 15-30 minutes until they're done and you have the "char" you want. On the grill, brush on some barbeque sauce.

And that's about it - it takes a long time but they're great. Keep a roll of paper towels nearby, though, because they are m.e.s.s.y.

Oh, and the sweet and spicy sauce was good! Barbeque is probably still better, but it was close...

How do you make ribs?