Supper On By 5:00

5:00 A.M., that is. My insomnia has reared its ugly head again.

Already, the little WeatherBug application I use says it's 82° with a heat index of 90°, and it's just 5:30 a.m. The heat index promises to be near 110° before the day's over. While I'm waiting for enough daylight to get out to the garden before it gets really hot, I decided to try to beat the heat in the kitchen by getting out my Crock Pots and starting supper early.

I started by browning some country-style pork ribs in a skillet with a little olive oil spray. Then I transferred them to my larger slow cooker, brushed them with some store-bought barbecue sauce and set them to cook for a few hours.

Then I cut about 6 medium potatoes into bite-sized chunks. I mixed 1/4 cup olive oil with 1/2 teaspoon Cavender's Greek Seasoning (could use seasoned salt) and 1/4 teaspoon each of granulated garlic, onion powder and crushed thyme leaves. I tossed the potatoes with this oil mixture, then threw them into my smaller Crock Pot and also set it to cook on Low.

I think they'll both be done before the worst heat of the day, but if they seem to be putting off more heat that I like, I can move the cookers out to the back deck. They neither one have liquid in them, so it should be safe enough for me to move them. Once done, I'll just transfer the food to serving dishes, let them cool a little, wrap them and put them in the fridge until we're ready to eat later this evening. Both the ribs and potatoes should reheat nicely in the microwave.

I'll try to get pictures of the dishes and update this post with them; not much to see, though, in their uncooked stage. Both dishes took 4 hours to cook on low. I had them photographed and in the fridge by 9:45.

Meanwhile, I'm going to try to get all my work done so I can take a siesta later this morning. I'll probably be sleepy again by then.