Cabela's : 8650 Boomtown Road, Verdi, NV 89439. (775) 829-4100

When Mr.S. invited me to North Lake Tahoe for a family vacation, the last thing I expected was it to be "Sacramento hot" there. It was definitely a hot one; however, the weather was beautiful, the lake was bright blue and we brought along shorts, tanks and sandals. His brother graciously invited us to stay again at the same gorgeous cabin we stayed at this winter; with 5 spacious bedrooms (3 master suites) and 5 bathrooms- there was more than enough room for the eleven of us to kick back and relax. There was shuffleboard in the game room, movies (and the Olympic coverage) on the upstairs telly and a huge wraparound balcony to enjoy wine on while taking in the majestic view. During the day, we lounged on King's Beach (the kidlets even took one of those giant trikes out onto the water) and in the evening, we cooked dinner or went out to indulge in some fine dining. On Saturday, we took a jaunt out to Cabela's in Verdi (near Boomtown). Mr.S. was pretty sure that I would be bored off my rocker at Cabela's, but I had a blast. There were loads of rifles in the gun library, a huge selection of fishing gear and tons of camping gear and hunting/camo equipment throughout the megastore. They even had hollow point zombie bullets for sale. Eeep!




While we were there we shot targets in the old time shooting gallery, watched the giant fish being fed, made up stories about the various stuffed wild game (elephants, polar bears, hippos, oh my!) and then just when we were starting to wane a bit, we retired for some lunch at Cabela's Grill. Mr.S. went straight for the buffalo burger; whereas, I opted for the elk burger. The elk burger turned out to be good, the meat tasted much like your regular beef burger just denser. The accompanying coleslaw lacked flavor although it did taste like it was freshly made, as opposed to from a carton.



Anyhow, we made it out of there without doing too much damage to our wallets, although it was fun watching Mr.S. looking like a kid in a candy store. Men! ;) Also, the kidlets had a fab time. Their Grandpa indulged them a bit with purchases of camo gear and air pistols, which they couldn't wait to get back to the cabin and use in the film they were making.

Tomorrow's Monday again...Ugh! Maybe I should have bought some camo gear, then I could hide from the giant pile of laundry and other various housework that I need to attend to.

One of the benefits of having friends that love food is that the majority of them are incredible cooks. One of my favorite kitchen dabblers is Undercover Caterer (if you haven't checked out her blog, you should!). Last summer, she brought a plate of her Peach-Bourbon ribs to a get together and the sauce was so mind-blowingly delicious that the whole lot of us were licking our fingers after downing each rib. Unfortunately, it was the tail end of peach season when I got to sink my teeth into those tasty eats and I had to wait patiently for the season to roll back around again. Anyhow, first chance I got this summer, I scurried down to the farmers' market and got me some juicy peaches. I was a bit worried about how this recipe would turn out as I've never cooked ribs before but they came out fall-off-the-bone-tender and the sauce was just as fantabulous as I remembered.

Undercover Caterer's Baby Back Ribs with Peach-Bourbon Sauce

For the ribs:

- Heat oven to 250 degrees.
- Mix 3/4 cup of dry rub with equal amounts of brown sugar.
- Pat your ribs dry, apply rub to all sides of the rack, wrap them tightly in foil and place them on a rack above a baking sheet.
- Roast for 2.5-3 hours, testing for doneness. They should be tender and pull away easily.

For the sauce:

2 T butter
1/2 red onion, about 3/4 cup minced
6 white or yellow peaches- peeled and coarsely chopped
2 T apple cider vinegar
1/3-1/2 cup of dark brown sugar, depending on the sweetness of the fruit
1/3 cup chicken stock (I used veggie stock since that was what I had on hand)
1/2 cup ketchup
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t Dijon
1 T Sriracha Sambal sauce (the chili-garlic kind with the green screw top lid, not the rooster sauce)
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup of bourbon

- Melt butter in saucepan and saute onions until soft.
- Add chopped peaches, bring to a simmer and cook about 4-5 minutes.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients except for the lemon juice and simmer another 20 minutes, until it thickens.
- Add lemon juice to taste.
- Using a stick blender, blend until mixture is smooth.
- When the ribs are done, you can glaze them then finish them off on the grill for a smoky flavor.