Tag

crock pot

The Perfect Gift: Beef Bourguignon

When I was a kid, there were a few things that I did a lot: watch TV, watch movies, listen to music, and read books. Sure, I rode my bike, played with Cabbage Patch kids and roller skated, but I have a lot more memories reading Romona Quimby books or laughing to episodes of Cheers than I do of riding my bike. Also, I must mention we didn’t have cable growing up, so while a lot of my friends spend Saturday afternoons watching Nickelodean, I spent a lot of time watching PBS cooking shows. Julia Child was one of my favorites. She just seemed so at ease and comfortable and above all real. There was no phony baloney-ness about her. She cooked like my grandma and my mom, and that is what I loved about her. Even as a small kid, I remember thinking, “I bet I could do that.”

Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child was on my Christmas list this year.  I was so happy when I received it thanks to my wonderful husband and kids. All those memories came flooding back.

Before Christmas, I was scouring the internet for recipes, and I found a slow cooker version of beef bourguignon. I must say, it was delicious, and thank you so much to
Dining with Debbie’s recipe. It was detailed and straight forward, and inspired by the queen of French Cooking herself, Julia Child. It was not as difficult as I originally anticipated, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. There is, however, a bit of prep to this dish before you put everything in the slow cooker so I would save it for a weekend and not a workday.

The original link to the recipe is here, but here are a few pictures. I wish there was scratch and sniff computer screens, because it smelled divine cooking all day.

 

Bon appetit!

Root Beer With Me: Easy BBQ Pulled Pork

Before we talk about BBQ, I just wanted you to know I linked up with Hi Sugarplum today to share my ticket stub art project. All of the projects there today only take about an hour to complete. I’ve already browsed around, and after only a few minutes, I have some great projects I want to do. 


Just a little background about me, I often don’t follow recipes exactly, unless of course it is baking. Even then, I sometimes play around with ingredients. This blog has forced me to be better about measurements and cooking times, but overall in my kitchen there is a lot of guesstimation going on. I pretty much eyeball everything. This is how my grandma cooked, and this is how my Mom and sister cook. This is how I learned. So when I’m blogging about a recipe, and I say bear with me on times, measurements, or ingredients, that is what I mean. I’m trying to go on a few pictures, or maybe a few notes I’ve taken on my iPhone or on the back of a napkin, and my memory (which I must say is failing me lately).

Which brings me to this next recipe. I saw this recipe online a few weeks back. It was all over Pinterest, and I saw on several cooking web-sites like allrecipes. I must say this is the easiest recipe I’ve ever “thrown together,” and it is delicious. My youngest devoured it, which means if an almost two year old liked it, I’m pretty sure anyone will like it.

 

BBQ Pulled Pork

1 Pork Roast (I used a 3 lb pork loin)
Root Beer (I used two 16 oz bottles)
BBQ Sauce to taste (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s)
8 sandwich or hamburger rolls

In slow cooker, place pork roast and pour root beer over. Cook on high for 4-6 hours depending on size of roast.

 

When cooked, transfer roast to a bowl and shred by pulling apart gently with two forks. Add bbq sauce to taste and serve on rolls.

See? Isn’t that easy?