Kalua Pig

What's a blog without a recipe post, or two?
Just trying to fit in here, people. (By people, I mean Connie)

So, without further ado...
My very first recipe post! (applause)

Kalua Pig

1. Several days before, dig a large pit in your back yard. Approximately 7 feet in circumference and 3 feet deep.

2. Wait, What?

3. I kid, I kid...

In all reality, Kalua Pig is cooked in a pit...however I will be showcasing a "knock off " recipe done in the slow cooker.

3 Ingredients, what could be better than that?
You'll need: A pork butt roast, (also called a shoulder blade roast or a shoulder butt roast), Liquid Smoke and Sea Salt (fine, not coarse).
Just a note here, the original recipe calls for Hawaiian Sea Salt, but even after an exhaustive search in every specialty store within a 50 mile radius, I have been unable to procure the aforementioned salt. I am trying to swing a trip to Hawaii so I can purchase it direct. I'll let you know how that works out. In the meantime you can order online. Try Saltworks.
Or, you can search for a store at this cool site I ran across today (Yeah! Guess where I am going next trip to Phoenix?) Find a map of retailers here: Hawaii Kai!

Otherwise, regular Sea Salt works just fine. That's all I've used so far and it is still delish!

Alright, let's get started. If there is a lot of fat, you can go ahead and trim some off at this point, if you want. I use an injection needle to pierce holes all over the pork. You could inject the liquid smoke directly into the meat if you can get the contraption to actually work. You can also use a carving fork to pierce holes in the meat. Whatever you have will be fine.

Now, you are going to sprinkle the Sea Salt on the roast, and then rub it in. If you haven't already injected the meat with the Liquid Smoke, go ahead and pour it over the roast and give it another good rub.

Then, just plunk it in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 10 hours or low for 20 hours. I've done both, and there is absolutley no difference!

After about 8 hours, the meat is cooked. At this point, I usually remove the bone and as much of the fat as I can. I give it a few good stirs with a large spoon and it breaks right up.

I also check the flavor and add more salt or smoke flavoring if it needs it. If my family isn't standing around, drooling with plates in hand, (they usually are) I cook it for another couple of hours.

When you are ready to serve it, you can drain most of the drippings off, just leaving enough to keep it nice and moist. We like it on top of rice and I serve it with "Orange Fluff" salad. The sweet, tangy salad goes nicely with the smokey saltiness of the pork.

This is so yummy, moist and flavorful! My family asks me to make it almost every week.

It also makes a great sandwich filling. Try serving on a nice, soft Kaiser roll. I love leftovers!

I now have the utmost respect for those who have cooking blogs and post detailed pictures and step-by-step instructions. I tried to do that with this recipe...and probably will never do it again! Too much work for me!

I am not a photographer! I guess I won't be starting a Photography Blog anytime soon. I am learning how to take better photos...but you'll have to settle for what I got!

Here's the condensed version of the recipe:

Kalua Pig

1 (6 pound) Pork Butt Roast

1 1/2 Tbs Fine Ground Sea Salt (Hawaiian Sea Salt if you have it)

1 Tbs. Liquid Smoke Flavoring

Pierce meat all over with a carving fork. Rub salt, then liquid smoke over meat. Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place roast in slow cooker. Cover and cok on high for 20 hours or low for 10 hours. Remove meat from slow cooker and shred, adding drippings as needed to moisten.

Try this recipe soon. It really is that good!

CAKE DAY!

Cake: (kāk) Noun 1. a sweet baked food made from a dough or thick batter usually containing flour and sugar and often shortening, eggs, and a raising agent (as baking powder).

Day: (dā) Noun 1. the interval of light between two successive nights; the time between sunrise and sunset.





May 13th was Curtis’ “Cake Day”. Cake Day is a celebration of sorts, and signifies the end of his therapy program at the CTN. And yes, there was an actual cake involved! (German Chocolate, to be exact). He was recognized during “milieu”. Maura, his speech therapist, highlighted his accomplishments, then presented him with a cake and he was applauded and congratulated by the other staff and patients.

CTN is a comprehensive Cognitive Neuro-Rehabilitation program used in the treatment of brain injury. It is the best brain injury therapy program in the country and we feel fortunate to have been accepted into the program. Curtis has been attending therapies there for 16 months. During that time, he has completed his GED and started attending college. As of last Thursday, he has 30 credit hours.

He has spent most of the last 2 ½ years in therapy. He has come such a long way, and we are so grateful for the dedicated, talented, professional Doctors and Therapists who have helped him get to this point. It has been an amazing journey, with many, many people involved in the process…

We started out here, in the ICU in a coma. Battered, bruised and broken, without much hope.

And today, we are here:

"You've come a long way, baby!"

But today I just want to say~ Congratulations son, you’ve made a remarkable recovery!
Enjoy the moment (and the cake!)

It's Great to be 8!!!

Or: Shane's Birthday!

(from http://www.wordle.net/)

Shane turned 8 years old last month. Eight is a very important birthday and he was very excited! His birthday was also the same day as Easter this year, so he thought that was especially cool!

Shane was reading his birthday card from Grandma and Pa and when he got to the part where they had signed their names, he tossed the card down and said; "Blah, blah, blah, I can't read SPANISH!" We laughed so hard! I bet my parents didn't know they could speak Spanish! Ha, ha...He meant to say CURSIVE and realized his mistake after we all busted up laughing.



He requested Chicken & Broccoli casserole for his birthday dinner, and I made him a skateboard cake. It turned out cute, but it was HUGE and most of it didn't get eaten. :(



A few weeks later, Shane got to be baptized by his dad. We had to wait for the font to be filled, since someone had forgotten that little detail. No worries, though. Since Shane is small, they didn't have to fill the font too full...although it was a long ways down for Rick to bend over! (Good thing Rick is short, too!) Everything went well, although I do admit to holding my breath until everyone was standing upright again. Good thing Rick didn't topple over, or his pants didn't split or something else disastrous!

We had a nice program. Emily and her friend Aubrie sang "A Child's Prayer". We had a couple of talks...all short and sweet and just perfect.

Shane looks so handsome and grown up in his new Sunday clothes. He refuses to wear a clip on tie! He wants a "real" tie, just like his dad and older brothers wear. He also is very excited to have a nice, new set of scriptures.

Hooray Shane! Way to CTR!

We love you Shane! Happy 8th Birthday and Happy Baptism Day!

APRIL! APRIL! APRIL!

A Recap:

I knew April was going to be a bit of a crazy month, but somehow I thought I had it all under control. HA! Thought I would have time for lots of funny, insightful, wonderful blogging. HA! HA! (Not that I generally do that, anyway!)

Things started off well enough, with two days of this:

The 179th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And Elder Holland's talk, "None Were With Him". The most beautiful and eloquent sermon on the Atonement I think I have ever heard.

Things get a little "dicey" from here on out! (Tylenol and brown paper bags not provided).

The next weekend included a little bit of this:

Our 23rd Wedding Anniversary! Manti Temple, April 11th, Loved him then, love him still, always have, always will!

Followed the next day by a little of this and a little of that:

Easter and Easter Eggs combined with Shane's Birthday!

Happy 8th Birthday, Shane!

And a lot of this:

Birthday Cake! (It's a skateboard, in case you can't tell!)

Then, just a couple days later, my 91 year old Grandmother passed away, so we wedged in a 3 day trip to Utah for the funeral. Love you, Grandma!

Rushed back, and got ready for a little bit of this:

Curtis' CTN (Therapy) Graduation Ceremony. This is him, with his Speech Therapist, Maura.

Then, we started off May with a little of this:

Shane's Baptism Day! Hooray for Shane!

We had family here visiting for the Graduation and the Baptism. My parents were here for a week, and Rick's parents were here for 4 days. Emily flew in too, and was also here for 4 days. We had a great time, and lots of good food! A few laughs, a few tears...and not a dirty dish or an unfolded towel in the house the entire week. Our moms should live with us all the time. Or not :)

That's the end of our crazy, wild ride through April! I think I will go take a nap now.