For breakfast this morning, we’re having scrambled eggs and bagels with pepper jelly.

That’s all. That’s enough. None of us can seem to get enough of those bagels with pepper jelly. I set out several different flavors, and when the bagels pop up from the toaster all hot and, well, toasty, and the pepper jelly is spread over them to melt and run all down the plate and then the hand and chin of the lucky bagel-owner, who could ask for anything more?

Maybe something to drink, that’s all. One of us had coffee, two of us had orange juice, and one of us had Diet Coke.

The Diet Coke drinker was me. True confessions.

The big boss here at Texas Pepper Jelly and Texas Rib Candy, Craig Sharry, is himself a participant, past winner, and administrator, which doesn’t surprise me at all; his products are so awesomely delicious, it’s just inconceivable that anybody could surpass him!

TGBCA, along with Texas Pepper Jelly and Texas Rib Candy, is on Facebook, so by all means follow them and keep up with the delicious world of bbq!

I hope you are all grilling out tomorrow; the weather is supposed to be lovely here and I stocked up on grillable meats at the grocery store this afternoon. We’ve got about half a bottle of Rib Candy left, so we’ll be emptying that, for sure. We’ll be feasting on pork ribs, chicken, and hamburgers, along with baked beans and potato salad, all of which contain Texas Pepper Jelly.

You might say that although my family lives in Indiana, our kitchen and taste buds live in Texas.

We like to offer special deals to our Twitter and Facebook friends sometimes; we are also big fans and supporters of #DadsTalking, a fellowship of parents – mostly dads – who share their parenting experiences with each other. It’s a thing well worth supporting. Oh, and remember that the family that barbecues together, stays together happily!

Texas Pepper Jelly and Texas Rib Candy are new to this social media thing, but already we’ve become aware of what a wondrous thing it is, to be able to converse and share with our friends and customers. In fact, if you come to this blog from Twitter or Facebook, please let us know in the comments.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, there is a slice of yellow cake with Pineapple Habanero pepper jelly icing, calling my name. Yes, our products are not only absolutely delicious; they’re versatile, too!

It was after reading the review of Texas Rib Candy on Shylah’s blog that inspired me to grill some chicken again tonight. The pictures and descriptions on Shylah’s blog made me so hungry for grilled Rib Candy chicken again! She wrote that she almost licked the stuff off the basting brush. I confess that I actually did, although I did manage to wait until after I was finished basting the chicken. Germs? I was past caring.

The chicken is thawing as I write, and tonight after work we’ll fire up the grill and put the chicken on. I hid what’s left of our last bottle of Rib Candy behind some leftovers in the refrigerator so the kids wouldn’t find it and use it on lunch meat – shut up; it’s awesome on lunch meat! – and I just finished making Spicy Potato Salad to go with the grilled chicken.

Oh, and how will I cut up the chicken before slapping it on the grill? With my awesome Messermeister poultry shears, that’s how.

Come on over; we’ve got enough chicken and potato salad for a crowd. Isn’t that how the best cookouts are?

My grandmother told me that fried apples-n-onions was pretty much a staple dish back in pioneer times, and again in hard times. She told me that when she was a young mother, she often served fried apples-n-onions when she could afford nothing else to put on the table for her children.

Everyone in my family is a huge Laura Ingalls Wilder fan, and we often re-create the foods she writes about. Fried apples-n-onions was a natural: so easy to put together, and so inexpensive, to boot.

Therefore, I wasn’t surprised when my kids, visiting for the weekend, suggested that we see how fried apples-n-onions would be, using Apple Cherry Habanero Rib Candy. It sounded good to me, so we did it.

Oh holy cow, it was awesome. You’ll think so, too.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 big Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced fairly thin
2 big onions, sliced
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup Apple Cherry Habanero Rib Candy
Dash of cinnamon

What to do:

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, and add the apples and onions. Stir-fry, never leaving the pan, until just almost tender. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and Rib Candy, and continue stirring until the apples are tender. Serve, and stand back.

With onions, this dish is a great spicy side. Without the onions, this dish is a fantastic spicy dessert.

It’s awesome, with or without the onions, and whether you use Rib Candy with or without the peppers.

Remember, it’s the simplest recipes that often give us the tastiest foods.

Now, get out there and start re-reading the Little House books, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Now.

(By the way, if you’re a parent, and especially if you’re a dad, why don’t you follow along with the hashtag #DadsTalking along with us? We never stop talking, and you’ll pick up awesome, useful parenting hints as well as tips as to when the next live chat will be.)

Tonight was a long time getting here, so we’re going the lazy route once again and having soup and chicken nuggets for supper.

However, ever since we discovered Texas Rib Candy, plain old chicken nuggets have never been plain again. Now even something as simple as a chicken nugget has become a piece of awesomely delicious yumminess, because I brush them with Texas Rib Candy before I throw them into the microwave.

Not only that: my husband now dips almost everything into Texas Rib Candy as he eats. Seriously, Rib Candy is addictive (the GOOD kind!) and wonderful.

So, envy us, dear readers, for we are having chicken nuggets and black bean soup for supper tonight, and, to be perfectly honest, BOTH of these simple dishes were made with Rib Candy.

Mmmmm, Rib Candy. . . .

This recipe for Spicy Salmon Cakes is especially delicious.

Ingredients:

Two 6-ounce cans boneless, skinless pink salmon, well-drained and finely flaked
1 cup dried bread crumbs, divided into two parts
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
3/4 cup corn kernels (if you use frozen, be sure it’s thawed)
1/2 cup Texas Rib Candy, any flavor, with or without peppers
1 large egg
1 tablespoon oil

What to do:

In a large bowl, combine the salmon, half the bread crumbs, cheese, corn, Texas Rib Candy, and egg; mix well.

Shape the mixture into 8 patties and coat with the rest of the bread crumbs.

Heat half the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the patties until they are golden brown – about five minutes. Add the remaining oil to the pan, flip the patties, and cook an additional 4-5 minutes.

Remove the cooked patties onto thick paper toweling and drain well.

We like to put more Rib Candy on the spicy patties as we devour them.

Texas Rib Candy is – and I’m not exaggerating in the least – the best damn stuff to put on your meat that you will ever find. If you searched the planet all your life, you wouldn’t find anything that even compared to it. Rib Candy is well named. It’s honestly and truly Rib Candy. CANDY for your ribs. Or chicken. Or frog legs and ostrich cutlets.

Everyone who eats your grilled delights will agree.

Invite everyone you love over for a cookout. Do it soon. Summer’s winding down, and Rib Candy is too good not to share.

Here’s a note from Texas Pepper Jelly’s awesome big boss, Craig Sharry:

Here at Texas Pepper Jelly we are always trying to think of something new for our customers. A couple of months ago we introduced our new Texas Rib Candy. The response was huge. Honestly, I knew it was good but I never imagined the type of success that we have seen already from this product.

PS … I almost forgot. Texas Rib Candy also comes in three fantastic flavors. Apple , Apple Cherry and Mango. And you can get with or without peppers. Be sure to try one of each!

There are all kinds of rumors and old wives’ tales about carcinogens in grilled meat, and while it is possible to create carcinogens if you char and overcook your meat, grilling done properly has no such dangers involved.

Have you ever wondered how different kinds of woods, charcoal, etc, affect the flavor of the meat? Do you know why meats change color when they’re heated?

We’ve all heard that all meats have dangerous bacteria in them, and that unless we eat our meat “well done,” we could be in trouble. Is that really true? Do the bacteria live ON the meat, or IN the meat? Is it true that hamburger is more risky than a steak, rack of ribs, or slab of tuna?

The answers to these and other questions, along with a ton of fascinating information, can be found in the following video: “Is BBQ Good For You?”

Take notes. It’s awesome.

player.php?videoRef=LS_100629_BBQ-Meat-Safe

Remember, cooking is science. Lab science. Never forget that.