Fall Wreath

I wanted to show off just a little bit - please indulge me. I wanted a pretty fall-ish wreath for the door, but didn't want to pay for one I only felt so-so about. So my friend Elizabeth helped me make this one! I love everything about it and the materials cost less than buying one.

Oxford!

Yes, that's Jason on a cottonpicker. Thanks to Brett, Jason has a new hobby...picking cotton. Jason's never been to Oxford...until now! We went for the Alabama game and to also see David Sedaris. Thank God we didn't have tickets for the game - it was plenty awful from the Grove. Speaking of the Grove, Jason loved it. I think he and Katie thought they knew about college football tailgating until they finally saw it. It was packed! We hung out with my former roommate Kate and her husband Brett - it was so good to see her again, she even put us up for the night! David Sedaris was wonderful, too. He is absolutely hilarious! Here's some pictures form our adventure.

Me and Katie

Me and Jason

Me and Kate! Thanks for keeping us!

Sherman Snuggles

As soon as Mr. Big realized he was that close he moved to the other end of the couch.

Braised Pork Shoulder

Hey all! Here's a delicious new recipe that I adapted from Food Network's Melissa D'Arabian's Succulent Braised Pork. It is so fine, and the cut of meat is really cheap - about $2 per pound. It's from a pork shoulder. The recipe calls for 2 lbs, but we were only able to find an 8 lb cut. So we just froze the rest...I've already made this twice since finding it! Starting it on the stove and then letting it groove in the oven for three hours makes this recipe easy and so flavorful. Here are your ingredients:

2 lbs. of pork shoulder, cut into 4 or 5 chunks
1 large yellow onion
3 or 4 carrots
2 stalks celery
few cloves of garlic(or I used the jarred minced kind)
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 Tablespoons flour
1-1 1/2 cups red wine(I use Rosemount Shiraz)
1/2 - 1 cup beef stock
2 bay leaves
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Start by patting the pork chunks dry and seasoning with salt and pepper. You'll need a braiser or any heavy pot with a lid. Heat it over medium heat. Brown the pork on all sides in a few tablespoons of olive oil.

Who doesn't love pork fat?

While the pork is browning, chop your onions, carrots and celery. 1 1/2 inch chunks work great for onions and carrots(that way they wont disintegrate), thin slices for the celery, but whatever you want! Remove pork and set aside. Add your vegetables and cook down for 7 minutes or until softened a bit. Add your garlic and stir. Then add your tomato paste and stir - you'll need to help it groove in the pot as it's really thick. When the tomato paste has incorporated, sprinkle the flour all around the pan. Stir and cook for a few minutes, basically until you can't see white anymore. Everything will seem really dry and sticky.

After tomato paste and flour

Now add the wine. I love Rosemount Shiraz and it works really well with this. But use whatever red wine you like. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan, getting up all the pork bits from earlier. Let this cook until the sauce really thickens up, reducing by about half. Add your bay leaves, pork, and enough beef stock to come up to almost the top of the pork pieces. Don't cover the pork, though. Put the lid on and cook in the oven at 325 degrees for 3 hours. When it comes out, you'll need to use tongs to pick up the pork, it just falls apart! Season with more salt and pepper, if you like and serve.

Final product. Those are beer bread muffins in the background. Jealous?

Life with two kids...

Hopefully they'll cuddle soon...