The next time you are asked to contribute a dish for a party, potluck, church supper or some other gathering, the recipes here for ribs, baked beans and chocolate cake are ones worth considering. They are easy to prepare, can be made ahead and reheated, and travel well.
Baked and basted in an apple juice-based sauce, Oven-Baked Spareribs are fall-off-the-bone tender and juicy. They do not require marinating, or use of a grill, making them a year-round, weatherproof option. Sweet and flavorful, the baked beans, made with prepared baked beans, contain a surprise ingredient – canned whole cranberry sauce. Start to finish, they can be completed and ready to serve in just 30 minutes. And, the chocolate cake, made in a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan, is a crowd pleaser that may be baked and frozen up to a month in advance of serving. A disposable foil baking pan, equipped with a lid, comes in handy for this purpose.
I’ve offered recipes for ribs and baked beans before, but with their use of apple juice (or apple cider) and cranberries, these dishes are particularly attractive and appealing in autumn. In addition, just about everybody enjoys them, and for those that don’t – the solution is simple: just let them eat the cake.
