This PORK BUTTS for you!!!!

It's hard to believe that it has been almost a year since our family went to the Essman's for dinner and had the pleasure of our first pork butt. Since then I have made it for my family, Keith's family, friends and even my Bunco babes. It's a simple yet DELICIOUS meal that is fairly inexpensive and VERY easy to make. I recently learned that what we fondly call "pork butt" is actually called Kahlua Pork. I've had a few requests for the recipe so I'm passing along my "version" of it. I didn't actually get the recipe from Shauna so the recipe that follows is what I remember of what she told me and then what I've done to change it up and make it my own. If you try it make sure you let me know what you think.

Ingredients:
pork shoulder roast
cooked rice
black beans
shredded cheddar cheese
salsa

PORK BUTT

pork shoulder roast
3 tbls each of course salt & liquid smoke per 4lbs of pork

I slow cook mine in my crock pot for 12 hours on low. You'll know it's done when it starts shredding apart easily. (I just had a bit of an ah-ha moment. I just realized that the last two times I've made the pork I actually had it in my crock pot for 24 hours and it was WONDERFUL. This actually made it easier because I could put the pork in the crock pot between 4 and 6pm and it was ready the next evening at the same time.)

Serve the pulled pork over a bed of rice (I prefer brown rice which can be made with chicken broth in the rice cooker - 1 part rice, 2 parts liquid). On top of the rice and pork, put a spoonful of heated black beans, then shredded cheddar cheese and top with a liberal scoop of fresh salsa.

So that's how we eat our pulled pork "butt". My family absolutely loves it. I normally get my pork shoulder roast at Winco for .99lb. But the last time we were at Winco I noticed the price had gone all the way up to $1.99lb with the bone-in. We ended up getting our last pork butt at Costco and paid $1.75lb and it was boneless. Keith is the one who always "pulls" the pork for me. He said that the cuts from Costco were much better, they didn't have nearly as much fat as what we normally get at Winco. If I'm cooking for a lot of people (10 or more) I will do two roasts.

I hope that if you try the recipe you'll enjoy it as much as we do. If you have any questions, let me know!

(Amended on 5/5/11)
We have found that depending on the brand of liquid smoke you use this could easily become too salty.  I prefer Stubb's brand.  It comes in both Hickory and Mesquite flavor.  We like the Hickory best but either is good.  If you are using Wright brand you will want to use less salt.  Or if you don't like salt use less.  I wouldn't use less liquid smoke though, it really enhances the flavor of the pork.  Also, the saltiness seems to increase if you have leftovers.  But we still LOVE this recipe.  We like to use the leftover pork for tacos!!!

To "Pot" or Not?!?!?!?

So I posted a status last night that Keith and I were finally going to watch the first Harry Potter movie. I had more comments than I was expecting wanting to know my opinion so I thought I'd go ahead and post my own "movie review" on the blog I never use anymore! LOL!!!

Some background -
I have not read any of the Harry Potter books nor had I watched any of the movies before last night. Why? Because I've never had the desire to do so and I knew that there was a big controversy on the content of the books. And if I was being honest I'd probably say that I felt they were a little "immature" for me, but not in a snobby way. I just didn't know if I would find them interesting.

After partially watching (unfortunately I fell asleep) the movie last night I regret to say I don't have a very definitive answer to the questions asked of me. I am still torn between letting my girls watch them. I realize that they are old enough to decipher for themselves between fiction and reality but I would just hate to allow them to watch something that might affect them in a negative way. The whole basis of the movie being sorcery and witchcraft isn't something to be scoffed at. I just don't know if I want to even open the door to that for my 9 and 11 year old. Also, I researched the rest of the movies to find out if they would be able to watch the whole series. I found that the first three movies are rated PG, though a review of the 3rd stated it should have a PG-13 rating. The next two movies do have a PG-13 rating and then the 6th goes back to PG. So that would mean that the girls wouldn't be able to watch all of the movies for quite some time.
Having said all that I would have to say that I did find the movie and storyline more interesting than I expected. (I didn't fall asleep out of boredom.) Also, I didn't find anything objectionable in the movie concerning language or "sexual situations". I don't think that the movie itself would scare my kids in any way. I think that Keith enjoyed it and is ready to let the kids watch it. So we just might end up "Potting" it?!?!?!