Ribs out of the Pantry

Tonights dinner was another successful attempt in using pantry leftovers. It’s wonderful to be able to use what you have on hand to make a pretty tasty meal with little effort! So for dinner, we had maple pork ribs with black bean & tomato rice.
The production of maple syrup, or ‘sugarin’, hasn’t changed much since the time of the Indians. Maple syrup comes from the boiled down sap of the sugar maple tree.

A sugar maple tree must be at least 10 inches in diameter for the tree to be tapped. When a tree is ‘tapped,’ a hole is made in the tree and a spout is placed in the hole for the sap to flow. This sap is caught by a bucket. The buckets are then gathered and put in a large cooker. It takes 40 gallons of sap to boil down to one gallon of maple syrup.

After the syrup has been boiled, it must be strained, cooled, and boiled again. It is first graded, and then ready for containers.
Here’s my recipe for maple pork ribs:

1 bottle prepared BBQ sauce (or homemade sauce)
1/2 cup real maple syrup
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon onion powder

Combine the above ingredient to form marinade/sauce.
Marinate pork ribs (bone in or boneless) overnight in marinade.
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or grill until done.