For the next few weeks, I will be cooking even more than usual. My somewhat elderly (okay, old) body has caught up with my youthful (read, wishful) thinking.

On July 1, I will get a new hip. I would get it sooner, but the Groton Public Library is once again running a food series and, since I chose the speakers, I really want to be here. That means that I can’t literally run around and must, because it hurts, stay home most of June.

It’s funny, but small steps, even walking stairs in my condo, don’t seem to bother me, so I can use my terrific galley kitchen (one step to the sink, to the stove, to the refrigerator) and just a couple of steps to the grill on the patio. I feel comfortable driving, but I hurt getting out of the car to the supermarket or BJs. So I have lots of meat in the freezer, enough big bags of litter and food for my cats, lots of books on my Kindle and shows I never saw, like “Game of Thrones,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Wire.”

I will make food that lasts for more than one meal. Recently I watched Ina Garten make St. Louis-style ribs and will make them her way (an hour and a half in the oven, just 10 minutes on the grill), and will make a new recipe I found for a cowberry barbecue sauce. Ina used a lemony sauce, but I love things that are pretty spicy and somewhat fruity. I will marinate the racks of ribs in this new sauce and keep some for dipping. There will be enough for a pork butt on the grill, too.

Strawberry BBQ sauce

Adapted from Fine Cooking, June/July 2019

Makes 4 1/2 cups

1 tablespoons canola oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 cup dark rum

1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries hulled and quartered

3/4 cup apple-cider vinegar

1/2 cup raw sugar

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

6 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced

4 bay leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons sorghum syrup (I used molasses)

2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 serrano chile, halved lengthwise

In a large Dutch oven or heavy-duty pot, heat canola oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened and just beginning to turn golden, about five minutes. Remove from heat. Add rum and cook, scraping up any bits on the bottom of the pan, two minutes. Add strawberries and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about five minutes.

Lower heat to medium. Add vinegars, sugar, ketchup, Worcestershire, garlic, bay leaves, olive oil, syrup, salt, pepper and serrano and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture reduces slightly and is thick enough to coat a spoon, about 25 minutes.

Remove and discard bay leaves. Process the sauce until smooth using an immersion or stand blender, scraping down saucepan or blender once or twice, about one minute. (If using a stand blender, remove center of the blender lid to allow steam to escape and to prevent overflow, place a folded towel over the opening to prevent splashing.)

Let sit for 30 minutes for the flavors to meld. Store sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

On the Side: Café 511

On a recent Sunday, I had breakfast at Café 511, after a few local people talked about service problems there. I had written about this little breakfast and lunch place at the Groton-New London airport and loved it. When I walked in, it was fairly quiet but I had to wait for five tables to be cleared. In addition, the owners had two playpens with twin babies, one fussing.

I was concerned, but was given a two-person table, a menu and coffee. Within minutes, one customer picked up the fussy baby; another helped remove dirty dishes. In fewer than 10 minutes, the waitress/owner took my order and said yes, they still had Taylor Pork Roll (New Jerseyites call it Taylor ham). I ordered scrambled eggs, the ham and a hand-rolled bagel with cream cheese.

When it quieted down, I asked the waitress where they get their bagels. "From my husband's hands," she laughed. Here's the verdict: better than any New York bagel I'd ever had. And the ham, yummy, and the eggs perfect.

Café 511, 155 Tower Ave., Groton; (860) 405-1644

Lee White lives in Groton. She can be reached at leeawhite@aol.com.