Smokin' Hot!

Smoked Turkey for dinner! I've got the smoke down now I just need to work on the temperature....and the fixins!  

Pulled Pork....and lots of it!

Jesse's thirteenth birthday is coming up this weekend and we are having a party! A bit bigger than our house can handle. Glad the rain is gone. I am making SIX pork roasts to pull apart for tacos and burritos.  Best recipe ever! So I have two crock pots cooking today and four more to go this week.

So if you are interested and since one person requested here is the recipe.

Pork roast

15 oz jar of Salsa Verde

2 c of chopped onions

3 c of chicken broth

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

salt and pepper

9 hours in crockpot on low. Shred when done.  I use the broth afterwards to make a chicken soup and it is SO good.

Pizza Anyone?

My oldest got to go to a sleepover party so I thought I would invite some friends over for my other ones. I planned some fun activities for them with the first one being homemade/handmade pizza.

Notice the finger swirls in the pizza sauce! I did say "handmade" right?

They kept eating the cheese.

Pryce said it would be cool if there was a gun that would shoot out the pepperoni onto the pizza. He was speaking Matthew's language.

They were so excited to make it but they each only had like half a slice. They were too interested in playing together.

Cinnamon Rolls

I took on the daunting task of making cinnamon rolls this morning, strait out of my sweet new cook book, "The Pioneer Woman Cooks".  It was a total blast! The first batch was messy and cutting the raw dough was difficult but the second batch was almost a catastrophe. It looks nothing like the one in the book. Not that I am comparing myself to her ;) but it is fairly comical to see the difference.

This batch was oozing out filling and were so loose I wasn't sure they would make it into the pan.....

....but fortunately when they come out of the oven they all taste the same! Divine!

Potatoes Au Gratin

We only make these potatoes on very special occasions. Christmas time events and Easter and almost always cause friends are joining us. That really is about all we can handle. They are so rich that we can only stand them that often and after eating a multitude of leftovers our bodies are always begging for a salad.

The ingredients include:

6 massive russett potatoes, 5 cups of cream, 4 cups of parmesan cheese, 3/4 a stick of butter (just make it a stick), salt, pepper, a million calories, who knows how many grams of fat AND totally worth it!!!!

Let summer begin...finally!

After a long June gloom our summer has finally begun. Honestly it has been so nice to have some extra cool weather before we have to endure 90-100 degree weather for 4 months. We also FINALLY had some friends over that we have had to cancel on somewhere around 4 times ( I lost count). It was always something, if not with us with them. They came over with their three boys and sweet little girl and our kids got along famously. We fired up the grill and they brought one of her amazing desserts. Never have I had a friend who makes a dessert like Marney. She is an amazing baker. At one point my husband saw their name on our calendar and he perked up with bright eyes and said, "Is she bringing a cake?" Oh my hubby and his sweet tooth. So we enjoyed an incredible smore type dessert that was created with her very own homemade marshmellows. That's right, homemade! Unfortunately I did not get a good picture to display the lusciousness of her creation but I am here to tell you I had the leftovers for breakfast this morning.

My absolute favorite cook book ever. The title reads "Grilling: Where There is Smoke There is Flavor"

A little early fun for the kids.

Waiting for the BBQ....

...and destined to be great!

My lovely friend Marney and my little delight.

Cobbler

It was SO good. The smell from the oven was divine and a large bowl of it topped with vanilla ice cream was perfect for a final moment of gluttony.

Inspired

These are my very first pictures of food. I have been inspired by my sweet friends Lori and Teri who take gorgeous pictures of their everyday duties. They turn the monotony into the marvelous.


So here is my feeble attempt to take an everyday chore and view it as a wonderful thing. It was a wonderful thing. I cooked up fresh asparagus with peppers, blended a homemade pesto sauce, tossed some chicken spinach sausage in and stirred it all together with spaghetti. Stay tuned for more photos. My goal, to turn my unexciting routine into captivating events.