4th of July Food!!

Hello fellow viewers, it's Edwin here. So a recap of what's been going on in the Chedwo household: Chelsea has made some really awesome curtains which make our bedroom feel like a paradise. Chelsea and I have both done A LOT of reading this summer. Chelsea has read "Medium Raw" by Anthony Bourdain and just finished "Spousanomics" a book that looks at marriage through the lens of two reasonable and loving economists. I am currently reading "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn who passed away not too long ago. It's an interesting book that tells the story of the US rise to a super power through the lens of the poor, the slaves, Native Americans, immigrants, and women. We've accomplished a lot for our upcoming wedding and have watched a lot of television. Currently the household favorites are: The Bachelorette, America's Got Talent, PBS, Extreme Makeover (where people lose a lot of weight), Love in the Wild, and Love Bytes. We've played a lot of Boggle (Chelsea blew me out of the water yesterday!) and as of Tuesday we are committed to riding more bikes (i.e. I'm learning how to ride a bike!). So far I have not wiped out on Chelsea's mountain bike, but the road bike has been a challenge to ride.

One of my interests is barbecuing and grilling. I think it's because when I smell the scent of wood chips burning or charcoal burning it takes me back to when I was about 9 years old when we would attend my dad's company picnics near Lake Conroe. The menu was always the same (smoked fajitas) and it never got old. It also reminds me of spending time with my dad and my uncles during high school and college, and all the joking, laughing, and stories that occurred. So it's no surprise that any chance we get, I try to make something related to barbecue or grilling. In the RGV, with the help of Ted, we made some excellent ribs that I hope to one day share with you all. Unfortunately, I cannot use my grill in our apartment because it's too small and the risk of starting a fire is big.

So this 4th of July, because Chelsea and I both really enjoy barbecued meats and because we like celebrating the 4th of July, we tried to have an All-American Meal. We could not grill so instead we made the next best thing: Barbecue Baked Beans. We made them in a crockpot, although the recipe (from BBQ U) has them baked on a grill. We paired them with Turkey Sloppy Joes. For dessert I made Blueberry Crisp and we bought mustard potato salad. Here are the recipes:

1 pound smoked brisket or bacon cut into 1/4-inch slivers
1 can (15 ounces) black beans
1 can (15 ounces) dark red kidney beans
3 cans (each 15 ounces) baked beans or pork and beans
1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
1/8 cup of Cayenne Pepper (optional, it counteracts the sweetness of the brown sugar and bbq sauce)
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped
1 poblano pepper or green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 to 6 jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced (for hotter beans, leave the seeds in)
2 cups sweet red barbecue sauce (your favorite commercial brand)
1-1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar, or more to taste
1/2 cup Dijon mustard, or more to taste
Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and freshly ground black pepper

1. If using bacon instead of brisket, place it in a large skillet over medium heat and fry until crisp and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Pour off all the bacon fat, saving a few tablespoons for the beans, if desired.

2. Empty the cans of black and kidney beans into a colander and drain. Rinse the beans under cold running water and drain again. Place all the beans (including the baked beans or pork and beans) in a large nonreactive mixing bowl and add the onion, bell and poblano peppers, garlic, and jalapenos and stir to mix. Add the barbecue sauce, brown sugar, mustard, and brisket or fried bacon and stir to mix. Taste for seasoning, adding more brown sugar and/or mustard as necessary, and salt and black pepper to taste; the beans should be very flavorful. IF GRILLING: Transfer the bean mixture to the aluminum foil pan or pans. (If you used bacon, you can drizzle a few tablespoons of bacon fat over the beans for extra flavor.) IF COOKING IN A CROCKPOT: Transfer the mixture to the crockpot and set on low for about 5 to 6 hours.

3. If grilling them, set up the grill for indirect grilling and preheat to medium-low. If using a gas grill, place all of the wood chips or chunks in the smoker box or in a smoker pouch and run the grill on high until you see smoke, then reduce the heat to medium-low. If using a charcoal grill, preheat it to medium-low, then toss all of the wood chips or chunks on the coals.

4. When ready to cook, place the pan of beans in the center of the hot grate, away from the heat, and cover the grill. Cook the beans until they are thick and richly flavored, about 1 hour. If the beans start to dry out, cover them loosely with aluminum foil. Remove the beans from the grill and let them rest for 15 minutes, then serve.

For the Turkey Sloppy Joes:

2 large garlic cloves
1 small yellow onion
1 small green pepper, seeded and cut into large chunks
Nonstick cooking spray
Salt and Pepper
12 ounces of ground Turkey Breast or just 93/7 ground Turkey
3/4 cup of ketchup
2/3 cup of water
2 Tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp of Chili powder
Hamburger Buns

1. Heat a large nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat
2. While pan is heating, combine the garlic, onion, and bell pepper in a bowl of a food processor, and pulse until finely chopped. We don't have a food processor so we just chopped them by hand.
3. When the pan is hot, spray with cooking spray. Add the chopped vegetables. and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is fragrant and the vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes.
4. Add turkey to the pan and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break it up. Season with salt and pepper, continuing to break it up with a spoon as it cooks. When turkey is cooked through (about 4 minutes), drain any fat if desired and add ketchup, water, Worcestershire sauce, and chili powder. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
5. Toast hamburger buns. Divide mixture over the buns and enjoy!





The beans looked like a very thick Chili, but tasted really great.



Here's the blueberry crisp. Blueberries have been on sale here in Austin, so we took advantage of that. The only thing I would have changed about the crisp was maybe to add more lemon juice. It didn't have the slightly tart taste that frozen blueberries have. Then again, these blueberries were very sweet!



The one and only Chelsea Barnes!



A close-up of the Turkey Sloppy Joes.

Today we are getting Library Cards! We hope to rent some audiobooks for our trip to Houston next weekend. Also, next week is my last week of vacation! So at some point next week we are hoping to go to Schlitterbahn, the best waterpark in Texas. Today we also want to go to the movies to see "Horrible Bosses". For dinner we are going out! We're having french fries at "Parkside", a restaurant on 6th St., and then head over to "Iron Cactus", a Mexican restaurant right across the street from "Parkside". Until next time, we love you all!