Little Meats

So I found myself with 4 lbs of pork shoulder butt in the freezer, left over from a Penn's Corner Farm Alliance "Yard Sale" this winter, and I knew it had to be enjoyed before it got freezer burn and too warm to use heat indoors.....Carnitas!!

3-4 lbs pork shoulder, de-boned, all fat left ON, cut into 4" chunks
1 pint bottle of Coke
1 pint bottle of orange juice
1 cup salsa verde
1 cup tomato salsa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup or more rendered bacon fat (or lard) (basically just grab as much pork fat as you can for this dish)

1. Put everything (except the bacon fat) in the slow cooker and cook on low for about 8 hours (until the meat is just completely falling apart).

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the meat from the liquids, spread it all out on a large baking dish, and pull it apart to desired bite size chunks.

3. Dollop bacon fat all over the meat. Also you can separate the fat from the cooking liquid and pour that fat on too. (I also reduced the strained, non-fat liquid in a separate pan for gravy).

4. When the oven is hot, put the uncovered dish of meat in for 10-15 minutes, or until browned to the desired level of crispiness. Turn meat over and brown the other side.


5. Serve with warm tortillas and other south-of-the-border accoutrements.


6. Stuff yer face!

Snow Day

It's been snowing since last night and we accumulated a surprising amount. I really hope the flowers that just bloomed in our yard won't be damaged.




Note in the first picture above that the tangle of raspberry bramble that used to grow behind the garage is gone now. I hacked it all down before leaving on my weekend trip.

It may grow back a little this season, but I'm not especially keen because there's a lot of morning glory roots under all that, and I'd like to work it out before anything more goes in. I doubt I'll have the energy for more of that this season.

Before:


You might also notice in that first photo that there are 3 scraggly bushes on the right side. The landlord tells me those are currants. That composting bin on the left has to go.

(bitter) sweet

This morning I woke up and saw a dusting of snow had accumulated on the roof. :( It made me long for the beautiful weekend I had in Columbus, OH reminiscing with my Phi Mu sisters almost 20 years after I pledged.

I stayed in a lovely B&B, the Short North Bed and Breakfast, about 1.5 blocks off High Street right in the heart of the neighborhood shopping district. It's a nicely maintained inn, although it's not a historic home, just a standard 1930s red brick duplex converted into a 7-room inn. Even though the walls are a bit thin and it is family friendly, I had a nice stay in the spacious extra-large room (with queen+twin beds and large full bath), and the breakfast was very good. It was also quite convenient to have free on-site parking during a gallery hop weekend.

Friday night, Jen took me to Nida's Thai on High, just a few blocks from the inn. It's a small place, but it didn't feel crowded because the atmosphere is clean and bright. We had friendly service, superb cocktails, a spicy Tom Kha soup, and plenty of small plates. The peanut sauce was dynamite. They even have sushi!

Saturday morning I had some time to wander around the neighborhood to see what was still there and what was new. I was very pleased to see Jeni's Ice Cream was just a block from the inn. That came in handy later when the weather warmed considerably during a lengthy walking tour of the OSU campus.

At lunch I got together with some of my best buddies from back in the old college days for lunch at Eddie George's Grille 27. We talked for hours while the server desperately tried to get us to order drinks and food. Afterward we walked around campus reliving the glory days.


The reunion "dinner" was served at Due Amici. I got to see a lot of old friends and look at photo albums.


I anticipated a sit-down dinner, but was instead treated to a cocktail party so we ordered a pizza post-party.

The following morning we gathered again at La Chatelaine, and enjoyed a sunny brunch on the patio. I amused myself with a fruit tart and good coffee while browsing more photo albums.

I was sad to leave, but there were promises of a gathering next year, and some subset of my sisters may appear on my doorstep much sooner, I hope!

A Profusion Of Color

When the Feinbergs were here last weekend we took them to Phipps Conservatory for lunch and a tour. The conservatory had just opened a stunning spring show:

Apparently, the orchid room was recently redone:

I was enchanted with the succulents and cacti:

Even the non-flowering plants were gorgeous:

If you want more, see my Flora album at Flickr.