i heart thawk

my very best friend kailyn ann introduced me to her family's little cottage in tomahawk, wisconsin way back in 2000 i believe. i fell in love with tomahawk (we call it thawk) and lake nakomis way back then and am still in love with it now. it's what you would picture as "up north" complete with pine trees, an ice cold lake and bald eagles. what makes it even more special is the company. the smith family welcomes all their visitors with open arms.
i'm so beyond fortunate to be invited to to tomahawk to this day to experience the great north woods. bringing my baby girl brings a whole new dimension to our long weekends. watching her see it all for the very first time is unexplainable.
well memorial day weekend came and went. it was reagan's third time, but probably the first time she really "got" it. the weekend was simply fantastic. being the cooking fanatic i am, i volunteered to plan the grub for the weekend. we embarked on an all american (or should i say wisconsin-ian) fish fry, baked french toast, yogurt parfaits, a cajun pasta and some barbecued chicken complete with a homemade barbeque sauce. after consulting kailyn for some creative approaches to the bbq i chose mango as the surprise ingredient. it was lip smakin' good.
soooo... here's the funny part. i was looking at some pictures from way back when and came across an album from a summer weekend in tomahawk in 2006. this was us then. (p.s. there's a beer bong in the back).

 

and this is us now. bbq covered faces and all. as you can see it was a hit with all ages.

 

here's the recipe. throw it on anything. literally. anything. the mango adds a sweetness allowing for less use of sugar, which i'm always a fan of.

mango bbq sauce

1 1/2 c ketchup

1 c pureed mango

3/4 c apple cider vinegar
1/3 c brown sugar
1 tsp liquid smoke

2 tbl molasses

cracked black pepper

1. combine ingredients in a saucepan. 

2. bring to a low boil. turn down heat and bring to slow simmer. cook for 30 minutes allowing flavors to develop.