"A father is someone you look up to no matter how tall you grow."

So, ever since Martha Stewart has taken over my soul I feel it necessary to give gifts that make one's belly happy! And for a man, this in-turn makes his heart happy. This year for Father's Day Shaun and I made our dad's (John and Dan), my grandfather (Clark), and Shaun's brother-in-law (Josh) homemade BBQ Sauce. The total time for preparation and cooking was about 2 hours, so this is quite the commitment. Keep in mind that we took this recipe and multiplied it by 8. This allowed us to fill 4 large mason jars and 4 small ones. The four small ones were given to other fathers and friends, for fun! (We also kept one ourselves that we later cooked with.)

The Ultimate Barbecue Sauce

For 6 servings, you will need:

• 1 slice bacon
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 cups ketchup
• 1 cup Sriracha
1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• red pepper flakes (to your discretion for heat)
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Wrap the bacon around the bunch of thyme and tie with kitchen twine so you have a nice bundle. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the thyme and cook slowly 3 to 4 minutes to render the bacon fat and give the sauce a nice smoky taste. Add the onion and garlic and cook slowly without coloring for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, give the sauce a stir, and turn the heat down to low. Cook slowly for 20 minutes to meld the flavors. Once the sauce is done cooking, remove the bacon and thyme bunches and let the sauce cool (just enough until you put in the refrigerator). If you are using it with meat right away I suggest use half to cook the meat in and save half to poor over the meat once it is cooked. This truly is a great sauce, enjoy!

Carrot Craze

These recipes came from an abundance of carrots I was given back in May (thank you Lisa Kilmas). With about 3 pounds of baby carrots, I knew I couldn't bare to eat ALL of them raw. So, one day, before they spoiled, I decided to put them to good use and make something savory, and something sweet. These are two recipes I found, changed a bit, a made my own. The first is a curried carrot soup. This was absolutely wonderful, comforting, and a crowd pleaser. I ended up taking some to work to share and all my co-workers loved it. The second was, of course, carrot muffins. These were also popular, as I passed them out to my neighbors. They are both pretty simple and so tasty! Enjoy!

Curried Carrot Soup

You will need:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion
1 1/2 pounds baby carrots
6 cups chicken stalk
1 tablespoon mild curry paste
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 
Coarse salt
sour cream (optional)
6 blades fresh chives, cut into 1-inch pieces (optional)
food processor

Preheat medium pot over medium high heat. Add olive oil, butter, onions and carrots and saute 5 minutes. Ass 4 cups of chicken stock, curry, cayenne, cinnamon and about 1 teaspoon salt to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover and cook until carrots are very tender, about 15 minutes.

 Place pot near the food processor. Process soup in 2 or 3 small batches until soup is smooth and carrots are fully pureed. Transfer processed soup into a large bowl as you work to make room for more soup in the food processor. Return completed soup to the soup pot and place back over low heat. If the soup is too thick, ass remaining stock, up to 2 cups, to achieve desired consistency. Adjust seasonings. 

 If you choose to use sour cream and chives, top with a small dollop on each soup, along with chives. (I decided to keep it as healthy as possible and opted out of using sour cream, it was delicious)

Super Moist Carrot Muffins

What you'll need:

3 mixing bowls

3 cups finely grated carrots

4 large eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 1/4 cups of oil (oil offers a really nice fine texture. I used olive oil, but you can use any type)

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1 cup of raisins

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Butter and flour either two 9-inch-diameter cake pans or a large muffin tin.

In bowl 1, mix the grated carrots, walnuts and raisins together.

In bowl 2, mix the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together.

In bowl 2, mix the sugar and the oil together. Then add in the eggs to the sugar and oil mixture 1 at a time, mixing for about 30 seconds are each.

Add flour mixture to this and stir until blended.

Finally add in the carrot mixture and mix until blended.

Divide the batter into the muffin tins.

Bake muffins until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. It took me about 20 minutes for the muffins.

Make sure to cool the muffins in the pans for at least 15 minutes. 

Turn out onto racks and eat away!