Boston, MA

Hubby and I drove up to MA (Boston suburbs) last weekend to do some sight-seeing and apartment hunting.

We didn't have any luck apartment-wise, all the units that we've seen are tiny compared to the space that we have now - and mind you, we live in a condo so there isn't really a lot of space to start with. Some are also downright depressing... it didn't help that the temperature was around 90 degrees out there and that the airconditioning wasn't turned on in the model units. We felt that we were in purgatory (we first thought that it felt like hell, but we decided to be kind and take this down a notch).

Oh, there were also some beautiful apartments. The thing is, the price was beautiful too. You really get what you pay for Hubby and I fell in love with a complex that even had a private theater in the clubhouse, you can use that and even have it reserved for private parties - for free. How cool is that ? Unfortunately, we both weren't willing to pay extra for the luxury. Looks like we're gonna have to schedule more trips out sometime and look for more options.

Of course, the trip wasn't entirely for business purposes... we took a detour into downtown Boston and enjoyed the sights. We got to go to the Museum of Science - which we both enjoyed... and later on to MIT to check out robotics-related stuff in their museum.

<-- Museum of Science We also got to have lunch at Quincy Market, hubby didn't really relish the fact that after waiting in line for our food, we also had to scout around and aggressively look for a table.

Baby back ribs

I've been looking for a way to prepare baby back ribs for some time now and I finally found a great recipe at Cantonese Cooking's blog.

The recipe calls for a 2 step process, the first of which is to season the ribs with a rub mixture to flavor the meat.

• Magical BBQ Rub:
  3/4 C. McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning
  1 and 1/4 C. brown sugar
  1 oz. paprika
  2 tbl. cayenne pepper (optional)

The ribs are then left in the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.

To bake the ribs, wrap them in foil and bake for a few hours using low heat (325 degrees) - The original recipe suggests 3 hours for 3 lbs. When the meat is tender, take them out, drain and then pour your favorite bbq sauce and set to broil. Since we don't keep a bottle of bbq sauce in stock at home, we opted to just make our own using the stuff that we already have - and by that, I am referring to those little packets of catsup and honey that you get from fast food places *smile*.

• Our Special BBQ sauce mix: Mix 4 tbsps (or packets) of honey to 5 tbsps (or packets) catsup, add 1 tbsp soy sauce. Add 1 tbsp of vinegar, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Voila! Granted, our presentation needs a little more work, but the ribs came out beautifully tender and juicy!

* note to self, need more salt.

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Original recipe : Part 1 and Part 2