December, 2008- It was the Footlocker National meet. High schoolers from all over the country were in San Diego, California to race each other. 10 from the West, 10 from the South, 10 from the Midwest, and 10 from the NorthEast. To make even more "friends," racers were paired up with someone from a different region of the country. I walked into my hotel room that December afternoon, two days before the race, to meet the girl I'd share a room with for the long weekend. She was my age, a senior in high school, from Colorado Springs. Her name was Allie McLaughlin.
Little did either of us know that in a years time we'd both be buffalos running for the University of Colorado. Allie has become not only by teammate, but my current roommate and good friend in college; and tonight she has taught me how to make ribs!
We started with a dry rub on our full rack of baby back ribs:
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
a dash of black pepper
(All mixed together in a small bowl)
From there the rub was... well, rubbed on...
We let the ribs sit out for 10 minutes after it's little "massage." Just to let all the flavors sink in.
Fire up the grill! It's time to throw them on!
We wrapped the ribs fully in aluminum foil before closing the grill.
Allie's creativity lead to placing a rock under the ribs when they were in smily face position, to cook them more evenly. 10 minutes for the upper left lip, 10 minutes for the bottom (no rock), and 10 minutes for the upper right lip. Then the ribs were flipped into frowny face position for a final 10 minutes on the grill.
We pulled off the shinny silver blanket and delicious ribs were revealed!
Bon appetite my friends! And remember you never know the days that you're going to meet your good friends! (who might just share delicious recipes with you :)
