Memorial Day has always signaled summer for me and the time to dust off the barby if you haven't already.  With more stay at home time, it's great to be out doors and creating yummy barbecued dishes. Preparing your very own spicey, flavorful finger lickin' sauces is great fun.  Once made, you can keep them in the refrigerator as long as you wish.  Of course, you could freeze them as well if you have more freezer space.

For me, I like a spicey hot barbecue sauce on beef and pork ribs.  After tons of testing, I developed what I call Jane's Best Barbecue Sauce, which is in my "Finger Lickin', Great Tastin', Hot 'n Spicey Barbecue" book which is a huge best seller.  I am putting it on sale this week at only $12.00, plus tax.  Back to sauce fav's--I like a sweeter sauce for seafood and some cuts of pork or chicken.  For pork shoulder it is hard to beat the Carolina Pulled Pork Hot 'n Spicey marinade which is vinegary and hot--and just right for pulled pork sandwiches or tacos.  (All of these recipes are in my book.)

As old fashioned as it sounds--I think really good potato salad and thick and gooey baked beans are hard to beat to go along with barbecue.  One of my favorite potato salads is a Bleu Cheese Potato Salad and I love to doctor up canned baked beans to ramp up the flavor.  Both of these recipes follow.

Our Barbecuing class has always been a huge favorite.  We gave two of them last June.  Of course with the social distancing, we have had fewer reservations, so I am placing the class on a 10% off discount.  Check out our menu for the class and register if you would like.   It's a great deal of fun!

We are taking reservations for all of our summer and fall classes and for our Oaxaca tour which has been moved to September 15-21 due to the COID-19 concerns.

Pure, spicey chiles make the very best barbecue sauces and to help you out, we are placing all of our chiles on a 25% off sale for this week.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day and God Bless our Veterans, even though the celebrations have had to be cancelled.

Here's the recipes--

BLUE CHEESE POTATO SALAD 

Hailing from Chicago, Sarah Larson, who joined our Pecos Valley Spice Company, made this for us and we loved it! Her original recipe did not use smoked potatoes; however, we like it even better with them.

Yield: 4 servings

8-10 small to medium red potatoes, scrubbed and unpeeled, quartered

½ cup diced celery

2 Tablespoons diced red onion

¼ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup regular or light sour cream

¼ cup crumbled bleu cheese

1 Tablespoon vinegar

½ teaspoon chipotle chile powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon crushed Caribe chile

1. Use smoked potatoes (made in a smoker)  or boil them as follows. Bring about three inches of water to a boil with 1 teaspoon salt and add the quartered potatoes. Cover and cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain water and stir in the remaining ingredients except the Caribe chile and lightly toss together; do not mash potatoes.

Taste and adjust seasonings. Garnish with Caribe chile.

BARBECUED BAKED BEANS

The combination of flavors makes this a favorite baked bean recipe of all times.

Yield:  4 servings

4 slices lean bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips
1 cup finely diced Spanish onion
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 pound cooked navy or pea beans, or one 16-ounce can baked beans
¾ cup ketchup
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 Tablespoon pure ground mild red chile

1. Preheat oven to 325F.

2. In a heavy skillet, sauté the bacon strips over medium-high heat until crisp. Add the onion and garlic, and continue cooking until the onion is transparent but not browned.

3. Transfer the bacon, onion and any fat that may have accumulated to mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and combine well. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 2-quart baking dish and bake uncovered at 325F for 2 ½ to 3 hours if using freshly cooked beans, 20 to 30 minutes if using canned.

Note: The beans will keep up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator, but don’t freeze them; freezing tends to change the texture and make the beans mushy.