Coming Soon - Texas BBQ and Southern Fig Preserves, Korean Tea and Persian Rhubarb Syrup!

We've been cooking this week, but it's been a busy few days, as well.  We haven't really had time to turn our culinary adventures into blog entries yet.  I should be able to get things posted over the weekend.

• Tuesday night was Texas-style barbecued beef brisket, with both a homemade rub and sauce.  Possibly the most successful venture into the world of BBQ I've had, with great flavors and some serious bark on the meat.  We ended up with a quart of the barbecue sauce in the freezer.
• Tuesday, I also put up three jars of preserved figs from the big tree in the backyard.  Gina loves all things fig, and this is the first summer we've lived at this house that the figs ripened in time for us to eat them.  Figs are not a sure thing in the PNW.  Looks like we might even get a second crop! 
• Wednesday, we made a gallon of iced Korean roasted corn tea (oksusu cha / 옥수수차 ), a beverage we've enjoyed, off-and-on, for much of our marriage.  I first encountered it while I was studying hap do sool (a Korean martial art) from Grandmaster Tom Sun Gwak, in Redlands, California, back in the mid-1980's.  His wife had made a batch for a potluck at the studio one time.  Gina finds the drink especially refreshing in hot weather.  I need to get to the Korean supermarket and get more of the roasted corn now.
• Thursday night we made a batch of sharbat-e rivas, or Persian rhubarb syrup.  A coworker brought in a big bag from her garden.  I grabbed a bunch, with no clear idea of what we'd make.  This was pretty easy and sounded pretty good.  It makes a concentrate that can be mixed with water, sparkling water, ginger ale, prosecco or champagne, etc. 

Anyway...watch for the relevant blog entries over the next couple of days, with lots of pictures!  Eat well!

Steven