4 Ingredient BBQ Country Style Ribs

Ok the picture is really small, but the amazing-ness is really BIG! These ribs are so simple and so tender and so delicious. It's been a long time since I've been as impressed with a recipe like I was with this one. Both Tad and I loved it. And the best part is it's SO SIMPLE! Thanks AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

• 10 country style pork ribs
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced
• 1 (18 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
2. In a shallow baking pan or roaster, place ribs in a single layer; salt if desired. Spread the garlic on the ribs, then place the lemon slices on top. Bake in a preheated oven for 2 hours - the ribs should be tender. Drain any grease and liquid. Pour BBQ sauce over the ribs. Return to oven and bake one more hour at 200 to 250 degrees F.

My Hunger Games Movie Review

So now that I have run the gauntlet of Hunger Games fans to see the movie I'm here to tell you what I think about it!

And what I think is that it was wonderful. Watching the movie just reminded me how far above the rest Hunger Games is in terms of the quality of the story. It goes so far beyond your typical love story.


I really love how they brought District 12 to life. I had always known that it was a dark, sorrowful place, but I never really took the time to imagine it fully. It was a bit of a shock to see how much District 12 felt like a 3rd world country.


Even before I saw the movie I had a feeling that they picked a good Katniss. Jennifer Lawrence did a wonderful job of portraying the complicated, head strong, and yet completely oblivious (at least when it comes to boys) Katniss Everdeen.


Willow Shields makes a perfect Prim. It was heartbreaking to watch her screaming for Katniss when she took Prim's place in the reaping.



Liam Hemsworth was a very good choice for Gale. Not only is he HOT, he's perfect for the rugged, brooding Gale. I really loved getting to see him watch Katniss in the games. Ok, maybe I didn't LOVE seeing him hurt, but it was a great addition to the story.

It really helped set everything up for Catching Fire. In the book once Katniss leaves for the Capital after the reaping you almost forget about the districts, but the movie did a great job of showing us what was happening there. I got a better sense of the discord.


Josh Hutcherson plays Peeta. The only problem I have with Peeta is that he's a little on the short side, other than that I think he did a great job with the character. He's got a good feel on the nice, loyal boy-next-door angle. I was a little skeptical of him at the beginning, but as I watched him be Peeta he grew on me more and more. When Katniss came and found him after they made the change in the rules he seemed so earnest and hopeful about the possibility that Katniss might care for him. Sigh...
I'm excited to see the dynamic between Katniss and Peeta in the coming movies. (Although if I'm being honest, what I'm the MOST excited to see is Finnick!!!!!)


Elizabeth Banks plays the colorful (to put it lightly) Effie Trinket. I wasn't excited about her character before I saw the movie, but by the end of it I've gotta say she was one of my favorite parts! The things I found slightly annoying in the book were quite hilarious in the movie.
She was great comic relief for the rather intense movie.


Woody Harrelson plays Haymitch Abernathy. Haymitch is exactly the kind of character that steals my heart. Grizzly, damaged, but with a good heart. Aside from the members of the tragicaly twisted love triangle I would say that Haymitch was my favorite character. Especially after you see him leave his booze (mostly) behind and take on the investors to save Katniss and Peeta.


The other tributes, particularly the Careers were very intimidating. Especially once they go into the arena and you see them brutally attacking each other.
Rue on the other hand is nothing but adorable. She was just about everything I pictured her to be. I cried once again when she died and Katniss sang to her.


Cinna was a character I was really looking forward to, and I think Lenny Kravitz was great. I also really loved the way they interpreted the clothes he made for Katniss and Peeta. Awesome.


Caesar Flickerman was played by Stanley Tucci and he was absolutely perfect.


Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley) was a very interesting character. His role in the book was very small, if you would even call it a role. In the movie you see a whole new dynamic to the hunger games, you see the man behind the curtain. In fact it was a little reminiscent of the Truman Show. I'm a little amazed that they pulled a character and story line out of he hat like this one. It was complex, intriguing, and full of surprises. Particularly his last scene, I thought that was brilliant.


Donald Sutherland made President Snow into the mean dictator that Collins depicted him as. I'm a little nervous to see what he's like in Catching Fire.


So if you haven't seen the movie please go do so, and if you have go see it again! And may the odds, be ever in your favor!

Brandon Sanderson Makes My Favorite Authors List: WOT, Mistborn, & Way of Kings

So I am one of those people who loves to read (or listen to) her favorite books over and over again. I've read Harry Potter, the Twilight series, the Hunger Games series, and the Wheel of Time series so many times I couldn't even count them all up! What I'm getting at is that I'm always a little hesitant to try a new author because I see it as a big commitment, but today I've decided that Brandon Sanderson has joined my list of favorite authors with J.K. Rowling, Stephanie Meyer, Robert Jordan, and Suzanne Collins.

I was first introduced to Sanderson when he was chosen by Robert Jordan's wife Harriet to finish the incredible Wheel of Time series that her husband has worked on for so many years. I think the entire population of WOT fans were a little skeptical of Mr. Sanderson because we'd been through 11 books (none of them short mind you) and 1 prequel with our beloved Robert Jordan, and who did this guy think he was coming in to fill his shoes?!?! However all of our fears were put to rest when we got a copy of Book 12, The Gathering Storm. Sanderson did an amazing job of staying true to the characters and story that we had all fallen in love with.
Check out more about the Wheel of Time series here.



Now that I was impressed with his work I went searching for more. I decided to start with his Mistborn series.I loved it! it's a great story about a young girl who learns to overcome her circumstances and fears to become the hero her world needs.
Check out more about the Mistborn series here.


Recently I got a tip from my sister's brother-in-law that Sanderson's Way of Kings book should be my next read. I finished it yesterday and I'm already itching like crazy for the sequel that hasn't been written yet. I really loved it.

Brandon Sanderson wrote this introduction to the story:

"Widely acclaimed for his work completing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time saga, Brandon Sanderson now begins a grand cycle of his own, one every bit as ambitious and immersive.

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars are fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by overpowering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under the eminent scholar and notorious heretic Jasnah Kholin, Dalinar's niece. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan's motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.

The result of more than ten years of planning, writing, and worldbuilding, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.

Speak again the ancient oaths,

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again."

There was only one problem I had with the book. Sanderson jumps from each character's view point from the beginning. While I do like to get the insight that comes from how each character sees events, but it makes it confusing to keep track of everyone. However after a few chapters you get the hang of it and get totally sucked in. And by the way, Kaladin is my favorite character, I found myself wishing for each chapter to be about him.

The Way of Kings is complex and thoughtful. It made me laugh and cry and my stomach clench into knots with worry. It is well worth the time to read it over and over again.

Now I am eagerly trying to decide which Sanderson book to dive into next! If you want to look into that too check out his website here. Happy reading!