{recipe} Hawaiian Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Weekly Test Recipes - Week 20!

This was one of the recipes we made for Tony's graduation BBQ.  The original recipe was shared by my sister, and we tweaked it a little for the graduation.  The recipe below is as we made it.

HAWAIIAN PULLED PORK SANDWICHES (adapted from allrecipes.com)
2 lb. pork shoulder
1 bottle/can of your favorite root beer
salt/pepper/mesquite seasoning
16 oz. bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
hamburger buns

***side note: Tony wanted a luau-themed graduation BBQ, so we used 2 parts Archer Farms Hawaiian-Style Barbecue Sauce and 1 part regular sweet BBQ sauce.  It was soooo nummy with a little bit of a kick to it, and we will make it this way every time!***

Rub pork with salt/pepper/mesquite seasoning.  Pour half the root beer in the crock pot (use the entire bottle for a bigger pork shoulder) and place in crock pot.  Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours.  Remove pork and trim off fat.  Drain liquid from crock pot.  Shred pork and place back in crock pot to cook for 20 minutes.  Add BBQ sauce, stir, and cook for 20 minutes.  Serve on hamburger buns. Yum, yum, yum! Definitely rated EXCELLENT and one of the best recipes I've tried in a long time.

{recipe} Fruited Tuna Salad

Catching up today and tomorrow....So sorry I have fallen TWO months behind with my recipes.  I have been cooking as normal, just not blogging the results.  I have some new favorites that I'll be posting about this week.  Bear with me while I catch up.

Weekly Test Recipes: Week 19 (From May....)

FRUITED TUNA SALAD (Simple&Delicious, May 2010)
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. honey (or corn syrup)
2 cans water-packed tuna, drained
1 can (11 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained
1 medium apple, chopped
1/3 c. chopped pecans
1 celery rib, thinly sliced
1/4 c. dried cranberries
1/8 tsp. salt
4 whole pita breads
alfalfa sprouts

In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise and honey.  Stir in the tuna, mandarin oranges, apple, pecans, celery, cranberries, and salt.  Serve on pita breads with sprouts.

This was sooooooo yummy!!!!  I was a little apprehensive about how all the different fruits would mesh with the tuna, but it was amazing!  I will definitely be making this in the future.  Rating: EXCELLENT. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of this yumminess for you.  Next time I make it I will add a picture to this post.

New Blog Design!

The lovely black/white damask blog background I had on here wasn't working anymore, so I found a new one!  All the credit goes out to Izzie Grace Blog Backgrounds - creator of free and custom blog backgrounds. She has sooo many beautiful designs, I had a very hard time choosing which one I liked best!  Hope you like it!

{recipe} Creamy Caramel Flan

Weekly Test Recipes: Week 18!! (Playing catch-up this week...)

This first recipe for the week was part of my Cinco de Mayo celebration.  I decided to make a Mexican-style dessert, and this is what I came up with:

CREAMY CARAMEL FLAN (allrecipes)

3/4 cup white sugar
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
5 eggs
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, cook sugar, stirring, until golden. Pour into a 10 inch round baking dish, tilting to coat bottom and sides. Set aside.  In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. Beat in condensed and evaporated milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour into caramel coated pan. Line a roasting pan with a damp kitchen towel. Place baking dish on towel, inside roasting pan, and place roasting pan on oven rack. Fill roasting pan with boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the baking dish.  Bake in preheated oven 50 to 60 minutes, until center is just set. Cool one hour on wire rack, then chill in refrigerator 8 hours or overnight. To unmold, run a knife around edges of pan and invert on a rimmed serving platter.

This was good, but nothing compared to cheesecake.  The jello-ish consistency bothered me a bit, and the eggy-custardy taste.  Just not as sweet as I expected.  Overall, I would probably rate this GOOD, but I probably won't ever make it again.


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CRANBERRY REFRESHER

1 1/4 c. cranberry juice
scant 1/2 c. orange juice
1 c. fresh raspberries (I used frozen)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Pour the cranberry juice and orange juice into a blender and process gently until combined.  Add the raspberries and lemon juice, and mix until smooth.  Pour into glasses and garnish with slices and spirals of fresh lemon or orange.  Serve immediately.

This was nice a refreshing.  I rate it EXCELLENT.

Will You...

...Be My Bridesmaid?

I've been perusing crafty blogs for well over a year now, and came across these bridesmaid invitations last year.  I had never thought of doing anything like that, so I bookmarked them in my secret wedding file (even though I wasn't even engaged at the time...).  Well the time has come to use the idea!

While I liked the overall concept of the invitations, I wasn't completely sold on the design.  Then I saw these accordian-style photo albums and decided to go with that design.

Here's what I came up with to ask my girls to stand by me while I get married!  *I haven't actually asked anyone yet, so names have been hidden :)

I can't wait to ask them!!!

Inspiration

I was so excited to be engaged to my love and start planning the wedding of my dreams that two days after it happened I went and bought all the bridal magazines I could find :)  It was so much fun to spend the plane ride back to TX browsing through the magazines, dog-earing the pages with dresses I liked, or color combinations that jumped out at me, or unique ideas I could personalize for my own day.  It has been so fun!

For years now, I've pictured a lavender wedding.  But since the planning has begun, I've started leaning more towards a richer, jewel-toned purple.  Closer to fuschia.  I think that will pop better against the Big White Dress, and put more of a fun vibe on the wedding instead of becoming too formal. 

Then I found this invitation in a magazine, and I fell in love:

This is the inspiration for my wedding.  I love damask (i.e. damask curtains in my bedroom), and I love that shade of purple.  The two together are fantastic!  I'm envisioning this combo on the invitiations, programs, reception decor, and special touches throughout the day.  Maybe a photo booth backdrop?  Cake?

This is fun :)

Woah, where'd you come from?!

So it's been over a month since I last posted.  Horrible!!  The blogging bug just left me for a while.  But some exciting events have been keeping me busy - I'm ENGAGED! 

But I am back in the blog-o-sphere!  I will be playing catch-up with recipes this week.  AND, focusing a lot more on the crafts aspect of Crafteroonie, including WEDDING ideas :)  Please stay tuned.  I will not be such a slacker.