The best BBQ sauce

31 Days to Blog: Day 6. I'm always looking for a good barbecue sauce ... I've never really found a bottled one that does it for me (and my choosier son, Evan), and frankly, I feel a little bit like a cheat if I use a bottled sauce when I'm cooking for clients. I feel like I should at least doctor it a little, a la Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade. Today we had ribs and sirloin tips and I tried a recipe from allrecipes.com. It met all my criteria:

• It was fabulous (Evan gave it the thumb's up)
• It was easy

I recommend you try it! (If you're a friend, family, or client, you may be receiving it as a gift sometime soon. I plan to make a big batch and can it.) Don't be intimidated by the number of ingredients, with the exception of liquid smoke, I bet you have everything in the house.

Big Al's K.C. BBQ sauce

2 cups ketchup
2 cups tomato sauce
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 1/4 cups red wine vinegar
1/2 cup unsulfured* molasses
4 teaspoons hickory-flavored liquid smoke
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

In a large saucepan over medium heat, mix together the ketchup, tomato sauce, brown sugar, wine vinegar, molasses, liquid smoke and butter. Season with garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, paprika, celery seed, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to low, and simmer for up to 20 minutes. For thicker sauce, simmer longer, and for thinner, less time is needed. Sauce can also be thinned using a bit of water if necessary. Brush sauce onto any kind of meat during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

*According to epicurious.com, "whether or not molasses is sulphured or unsulphured, depends on whether sulphur was used in the processing. In general, unsulphured molasses is lighter and has a cleaner sugar-cane flavor." I use Granma's brand molasses, and the only ingredient listed is molasses, it says nothing about sulphered or unsulphered. I'll keep you posted if I find out more.

Anyway, this barbecue sauce is worth making! Enjoy!