Pulled Pork: where have you been all my life?

Is it my imagination, or is Southern cooking all the rage right now?  Even in Squamish we have a BBQ joint and it's delicious!  Everywhere I go, I see pulled pork on the menu.  Sometimes is a bit heavy on the BBQ sauce but overall, it seems like you can't go wrong with such a tender, succulent piece of meat.   About a month ago, our friends Kory & Julie invited us over for a delicious casual dinner of pulled pork on a bun with homemade coleslaw.

So I thought it was time I tried pulled pork.  I've been told that its a cinch in the slow cooker, but I found a recipe on "The Pioneer Woman Cooks" that I decided to give a whirl in the oven.

Cookbook Challenge #11: Spicy Pulled Pork, from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

The recipe called for a 5-7lb pork shoulder, but since we are but 2.5 people in the house, I opted to use the 1.5lb pork shoulder I had left in the freezer.  Luckily the recipe recommended turning the pork every hour or so, as it allowed me to see that my eensy little pork shoulder was cooking much faster than the 6-7 hours recommended.  All said, mine was in the oven for approximately 4.5 hours.

The smell of pulled pork emanating through the house roused different emotions as people came through the door.  I was home for most of the day, so I was oblivious too it.  Derek's reaction on coming home from running some errands was surprise.  I guess you don't normally expect your house to smell like pork at noon.  A few hours later our friends Julie & Ty stopped by for tea.  Ty (a pulled pork enthusiast) floated in on hungry cloud.

When I opened the pot after 4 hours I was pleasantly surprised at how a simple piece of meat had transformed.  It was juicy & so tender it fell apart when I took a fork too it.  I pulled it apart & served it with homemade picco de gallo, guacamole, salsa, sour cream & tortillas.

I was so excited about the success of this meal that I went for a bonus round with the Cookbook Challenge and made breakfast out of the same book this morning.  Cookbook Challenge #11b): Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes.  If you like pancakes, do yourself a huge favour and try these.  They were recently featured on her blog.  They are super fluffy, light and delicious.  And super easy.  (Aside: most pancake are dead easy - am I the only one who is mystified by the existence of "pancake mix"??  How hard is it to mix some flour, baking soda, & sugar together??)

Fed on pulled pork tacos & pancake breakfasts, you'd better believe the belly is growing!  We are now 36 weeks, and next week will be considered "full term"... in other words: Rufus could arrive pretty much any day now!!!

Belly shot of the week: 36 wks
Walking by the Squamish River

Another belly shot of the week!