I was sitting at my desk Friday afternoon when I heard one of the girls in the kitchen say, “Look at the rain coming down!”
My mind immediately went to my city-folk parents who had decided to try (once again) camping at a state park about 5 miles from my house for the weekend. I texted my mom asking if they had still made the trip up given the weather.
“Yep, and having fun!” she texted back. Not able to sense her actual tone through text, I responded with, “…you’re welcome to come to the house, if you’d like!”
I received a, “Naaah!” in return. Well, okay then Madame Mother Nature.
The rain cleared up and I went to meet them at their camp site for a beer and a s’more. My dad was getting up for more food and completely tumbled to the ground, hitting his head. It looked bad. It concerned me. And when someone mentioned that he had already fallen previously that afternoon, I informed my dad that he would either be going with me to the ER or I would be calling an ambulance to the campsite.
After some a brief moment of resistance and denial, everyone finally agreed, my dad included, that it was better to be safe than sorry. He definitely didn’t feel “right”, he said.
The ER was incredible. They were super quick with everything and when my dad went to CT, I snuck home for my cell charger and some snacks as it was now going on 11pm and he had been in the ER for several hours.
Everything checked out just fine. Phew. His blood pressure was up and we’re pretty sure hydration was the issue given the Michigan weather than has gone from spring to can’t-go-outside-without-sweating kind of humidity. Dontcha hate that?
Ironically, the thing I’ll remember most about sitting with my jabber-jaws dad in the ER for hours upon hours was when he was munching on some pretzels and asked if I had a root beer to go along with. Quite the combination there, pop, but I get it. Sweet and salty works rather splendidly, as is the case in this Cherry Barbecue Sauce, too!
- ⅔ cup reduced sodium ketchup
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- 20 cherries, pitted and cut into eighths
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sriracha
- 2 Tbsp onion, minced
- In a small sauce pan combine ketchup, vinegar, water, cherries, sugar, Worcestershire, mustard, soy sauce, Sriracha and onion. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.
- Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to about 1 cup. Serve.
Boring weekly menu since a few things got pushed from last week to this week 😉
Weekly Menu: June 23 – June 27th
- Sunday: Spiced Salmon Kebabs with Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes
- Monday: SoCal Guacamole Burgers
- Tuesday: cookbook recipe
- Wednesday: leftovers
- Thursday: Greek Shrimp and Couscous
Been a fun weekend! Hope today doesn’t go too fast!
Be well,
Ok, so how about I still have cherries in my freezer from when I was going to make your cherry salsa from, oh……last year! Yea, I’m on the ball. I was going to finally pitch them last week, but I’m glad I didn’t because this sauce looks like the perfect excuse to use them up! Glad to hear your dad is ok. I love camping in Michigan…….plenty of good spots and always tons of fun. I once walked around all night with a toasted marshmallow on my back……darn you, s’more pranksters!
I usually end up craving pretzels after I eat ice cream for the same reason! Sweet + salty = match made in heaven. I’m glad to hear your dad is okay too. That could be pretty scary!
Very interesting. I have never thought of making bbq sauce with cherries. I love it 🙂
Oh my… I’m glad to hear your dad is ok! That kind of stuff is scary but I’m really happy that he’s doing alright. Make him this BBQ sauce and a sandwich! 🙂
I’m so glad everything checked out okay with your dad! I spend the weekend back & forth from the hospital as well…my husband ended up being admitted due to his diabetes. (Read as ‘my very hard-headed and non-compliant diabetic husband’) *sigh*
Yum! Whenever I am home in Michigan visiting family I always bring back several jars of cherry bbq sauce from one of the shops in downtown St. Joe. Unfortunately, I only visit once a year and I used the last jar about 6 ms ago. I could always have my parents send the sauce to me, but my frugal mother would lose it over the $7 cost for the tiny jar! I wouldn’t do that to her 😉 Who knew I could make it! I can’t wait to try this. I LOVE fruity things with meat 🙂
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Kim, you probably know this, but I live in St. Joe 🙂 Who sells cherry BBQ sauce here!?
How funny! I knew you were in SW Michigan somewhere…but didn’t realize it was my beloved St. Joe! I’m so jealous…well, sort of. I LOVE Michigan Summer, Spring and Fall…but hate the Winters! If I could I would spend half my year in Michigan and the other half in Texas! However, the shopping is better in Fort Worth. You would go nuts!!! Trader Joe’s, Central Market, Sprouts…all amazing.
OK, back to the sauce! If it is still there, there was a shop downtown near The Silver Dollar that sold just products from Michigan. She sold 2 types of cherry bbq sauce, but said the one from Jollay Orchards in Coloma was the best 🙂
Enjoy your beautiful Summer weather. I know the humidity really stinks though. Texas gets really hot, but at least the humidity is low!
I can’t wait until next month when I can put my toes in Lake Michigan again!!!
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Definitely checking it out! Thanks, Kim! 🙂
Glad your Dad is okay – better safe than sorry too! When my husband had his heart problems, he thought he just had the flu – turns out he had endocardidis (sp?!) and needed an aortic valve transplant! He fought me going to the ER but finally gave in. Crazy!
Love the sweet/savory combo going on here – totally adding this to the top of my list!
Glad that your dad is okay! MMM…cherry bbq sauce sounds so good!