Dang, Ryan is one adorably cute baby. I'm not into babies at all, never understood the aching-ovaries thing, so when I say a baby is cute? You can believe it: that's a cute baby.

Moroccan-spiced short ribs with carrot, baby bella mushrooms, onion, garlic, and fresh ginger are in the crockpot.

That sounds yum! Can you share the recipe?

Barb, I'll be over around 7 for dinner, okay?

In completely unrelated news, I saw this wedding announcement in Sunday's paper (names removed to protect the guilty):

(bride) and (groom)were married on August 11, 2009 at Dalhousie Castle in Bonnyrigg Scotland. A bagpiper led the wedding party through the castle to the chapel, where the Reverend (name) of the Church of Scotland conducted the ceremony.

The wedding rings were delivered by an owl and the reception dinner was held in the castle's flower-filled dungeon. The couple's storybook wedding celebration followed a trip through Scotland with their four children (names removed to protect the innocent).

The bride is a best-selling romance author. She is curently working on her tenth novel. After a career in government and finance, the groom is now an independent developer of green and renewable energy projects.

The couple resides in historic (place).

Accompanied by a large-ish color photo of bride adn groom (she's wearing white, he's wearing a kilt).

Did everyone else boggle at the point I did?

What would have happened if the owl flew away with the rings? A sign from God/Mother Nature not to get married?

I'm going with the owl ring-bearer, but some traditionalists might object to the white dress since they already have four children.

Barb, I'll be over around 7 for dinner, okay?

Hee! Come on by! There's plenty!

Recipe's pretty easy and of course, I futzed with it.

Spice rub:

1 Tblsp dried thyme, crushed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon

I also added cayenne, a little curry, and mace, to taste, for heat and a little more warmth

3 1/2 lbs beef short ribs
olive oil
3 cups beef broth
1 16 oz. can garbanzo beans rinsed and drained (I used black beans because I like them better)
1 14.5 can diced tomatoes
1 large onion, cut into thin wedges
1 package baby bella mushrooms, quartered
1 cup chopped carrot
4 cloves garlic (I doubled this. No such thing as too much garlic in my world)
minced fresh ginger (also to taste)

Combine spice mixture, coat ribs. Heating olive oil over medium-high heat, brown the ribs in two batches. Set aside.

In slow-cooker, combine broth, beans, undrained tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, garlic, ginger, and carrot; top with the browned ribs.

Cook for 9-10 hours on low heat or 4.5-5 hours on high heat.

The recipe calls for serving it over couscous, but I'm not crazy about it, so I'm opting for mashed sweet potatoes instead.

So probably not so much with the Moroccan as just spiced.

I boggled at both the owl and the flower-filled dungeon, boggling somewhat more at the mention of the groom's line of work.

Ok, I have a solution to the owl-flying-away-with-the-rings problem. Since the wedding rings are so expensive, it makes sense to have people with shotguns standing by. Although it might detract somewhat from the ceremony to have the owl brutally gunned down as it tries to escape, and the exchange of the blood-and-feather-spattered rings might not be so much fun either....

edit to kill a comma....

Was that wedding from the new Harry Potter series or something? Careful, those rings have a Screamer from the -inlaws.