Crock Pot Carnitas

There are a lot of reasons I wanted to include this recipe. First off, they are definitely in Logan's top 3 favorite foods. They are also an essential part of our tamale preparations (coming soon!). But mostly, they are just super easy and always pleasing!

Yet another nice aspect of these is that they are so versatile! We serve these on all sorts of tortillas, they're great in a lettuce wrap, they work well with a side of rice, and they are spectacularly useful for rounding out a pot of posole or borrocho beans.

And since they are prepared in a crock pot, these are one of the easiest dishes you can fix for your family on any given day!


Crock Pot Carnitas

Stuff You Need:

• 4 lb boneless pork shoulder roast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp chipotle chile powder
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups chicken broth
• black pepper and salt to taste
• 1 Tbs olive oil (or other oil of your choice)

What To Do:

1. Mix together salt, garlic powder, cumin, chile powder, oregano, coriander, cinnamon, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
2. Cut pork roast into 3" - 4" chunks, coat with the spice mixture, and place in the crock pot.
3. Pour the chicken broth around the sides, being careful not to rinse off any of the spice mixture with the broth.
4. Cook on low for 6 or 7 hours or until the pork can be easily shredded with a fork.
5. Before serving, put the oil in a large skillet and heat until it starts to shimmer.
6. Remove shredded meat from the juice and place in the skillet with the hot oil.
7. Stir until evenly browned and you can see a light crisp on your pork.

Logan has always been kind of ... selective ... in his menu choices, but this is one of a handful of dishes that I can count on to always satisfy his appetite! We typically make this at least once a month and I try to make enough to freeze some and put away for those nights when I don't plan in advance for dinner.

Crustless Cranberry Pie

This tasty treat has been a favorite at family gatherings for at least 5 years now. A very talented baker at work prepared this pie for an office pot luck and we pestered her until she divulged the recipe!

I'm so glad she was willing to share as this is often requested for holiday gatherings. In fact, it quickly became one of my dad's favorites. It pleased me to no end to have at least one dish I had introduced to him become a favorite.


Crustless Cranberry Pie

Ingredients:

1 - cup all purpose flour

1 - cup sugar

.25 - tsp salt

2 - cups cranberries (frozen or fresh)

.5 - cups chopped almonds

.5 - cup unsalted butter, melted

2 - eggs, beaten

1 - tsp almond extract

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease one 9-inch pie pan and set aside.
2. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl.
3. Stir in the cranberries and almonds and toss to coat.
4. Stir in the butter, beaten eggs, and almond extract.
5. Note: if you are using frozen cranberries, the mixture will be very thick. I prefer to mis with my hands in this case.
6. Spread the batter into the prepared pie pan and bake at 350F for 40 minutes or until a wooden tooth pick inserted near the center comes out clean.
7. Serve warm with whipped cream of ice cream!

The original recipe called for walnuts, but we all prefer it with the almonds. If you choose to use walnuts, use the same amount (.5 cups, chopped) as the almonds.

I love the splash of color provided by the cranberries. It makes the holiday table feel more festive.

The original recipe suggested whipped cream or ice cream as a topping, but we love it all on its own.

Memaw's Potato Soup

I don't have a photo for this one yet, but this dish has been on my mind so I wanted to share the recipe now. I'll add photos as I get them taken.



I've always been a fan of potatoes. I love them baked, fried, mashed, and especially in a thick creamy soup topped with crispy bacon bits. It's the latter version that is featured here. When I was a kid, as soon as the first cold front would hit, my mom would make a huge batch of this soup. She would keep it in a big tupperware tub in the fridge and she and I would serve it up 3 meals a day for as long as it lasted.

When I left home for college, this meal was among those that I missed the most. When I came home for Thanksgiving, my mom made a special batch for me so that I could take it back with me to my little dorm room. And for as long as I can remember, each time I got sick or had a rough day, I would call my mom and petition for a special delivery of a bowl of my favorite comfort food.

Memaw's Potato Soup

Ingredients:

3 - cups peeled, chopped potatoes

1 - small onion, chopped

1.5 - cups whole milk

1 - Tbs all purpose flour

1 - cup water

Salt and pepper to taste

cooked crumbled bacon (optional)

Instructions:
1. Boil potatoes and onions in water under tender (about 20 minutes).
2. Add flour to milk, mixing until well blended.
3. Add milk mixture to potato/onion mixture
4. cook on low heat until thickened, stirring constantly.
5. Salt and pepper to taste.
6. Spoon into soup bowls and garnish with shredded cheese and crumbled bacon, if desired.

It wasn't until I had moved off to college that my mom shared that this recipe had been handed down from her mom. I shouldn't have been surprised. I think my Memaw served potatoes at almost every meal. I remember well fighting with my cousin, Sharon, for the first helping of Memaw's mashed potatoes at every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.

I don't need to tell you that I adored this lady. Just look at the smile on Logan's face as he played with her in her back yard on a fine fall afternoon! I honestly do not ever recall being down in the dumps in her presence. I remember trips to the 5 and Dime (seriously!) to pick up craft supplies before the start of a sleep over. I remember long, drawn-out games of scrabble and spades. And I remember clouds of perfumed after-bath powder, Chanel No. 5, to be exact. I remember her big fluffy bed and giggling late into the night. I remember the basketball hoop in the parking lot of their TDC housing complex as well as countless games of "horse" with my cousins. And I remember her smile, always her smile.

My mom had a bright, sunny disposition and I'm quite certain she inherited that from her mother.

It's kind of funny. I strongly favor my father's family in appearance. My mom was the same way. She greatly favored her paternal grandmother in looks. But as I sit here and think back, I can see how much of her personality was a direct influence from my Memaw.

Great Grandma Kyle's Dinner Rolls

I have genuinely struggled to find a reliable dinner roll recipe that is easy to make and enjoyed by my whole family. And then a few months ago on Thanksgiving, a young cousin brought several trays of these truly enjoyable rolls to share with everyone! It seems she found the recipe in some old papers belonging to my grandmother.

My guys enjoyed these rolls so much, they almost didn't save room for anything else! So after a healthy dose of teasing, we convinced my cousin to share what she learned. And today my boy and I spent an enjoyable afternoon in the kitchen cranking out a batch of our own.


These rolls are good with dinner, at breakfast, or just anytime you want a nice, toasty, yeasty snack!

Great Grandma Kyle's Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:

3 - Tbs rapid rise yeast (1.5 pkgs)

1 - egg

1.5 - cups warm milk

1/3 - cup sugar

5 - Tbs softened butter

1 - tsp salt

4 - cups all purpose flour

2 - Tbs melted butter

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 180F. When it reaches temperature, turn off the heat and keep the door closed. This is an optional step, but is useful in cold weather.
2. Combine all ingredients except melted butter in a bowl. You’ll want to start with 3 cups or so of flour and add in the rest as needed. Adding all the flour at once is doable, but difficult. The dough should be sticky, but workable. Add flour 1 tablespoon at a time as needed to achieve proper texture.
3. Put the dough in a greased oven-safe bowl and let it rise for 30 minutes in the warm oven (or on the counter in warm weather). It should roughly double in size.
4. Take the dough out of the oven and punch it down, then return it to the oven and let it rise for another 30 minutes in the warm oven. Again, it should about double in size while rising.
5. At the end of the 2nd 30-minute rise, punch it down again.
6. Pull out dough and roll in your palm to your desired size. We use about a 2 Tbs scoop at a time.
7. Place the dough balls in a greased pan (or two, depending on the size of your pan). Cover with a damp rag and allow the rolls to rest while you preheat the oven to 375F.
8. When the oven reaches 375F, brush the melted butter over the top of the dough.
9. Bake for 15 - 18 minutes until lightly golden in color.

Allow rolls to cool slightly before enjoying!

Recipe Notes: I've actually made these a couple of times now and I've tweaked things just a little. I like to "proof" the yeast with the warm milk and sugar for 5-10 minutes before mixing everything together. It's not necessary, but I'm finding the dough to be a bit lighter and more airy when I add this extra step. Also, just before putting in the oven to bake, just after brushing with the melted butter, I like to lightly sprinkle sea salt over the rolls. We like a lot of savory foods and these rolls really pair well with savory dishes with the added salt.

I am thankful that I got to spend a large part of my childhood around my Great Grandmother Kyle. Grandma Kyle (as we all called her) was a teacher by profession and by spirit. She never missed a teaching opportunity. She liked to lead hikes through the woods with my cousins and I where she would tell us tales from her childhood and point out the different plants and animals we saw along the way.

But my favorite remembrance of her was story time! Grandma Kyle could crank out a yarn at the drop of a hat! She did special voices for all of the characters and even acted out some of the action. She could recite a favorite story or spin a tale of her own but my favorites were the escapades of Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Fox. I can still hear her voice in my head as she would mime out Br'er Rabbit's tricksy plans to make a fool of Br'er Fox.

Grandma Kyle also played a role in a "breakfast scheme" my cousin Lian and I had going when we were in elementary school. We all lived within sight of one another on "the hill": my cousin and her family, my grandparents, my great grandmother, and my little family. Each day, before our parents left for work, we'd have breakfast at home. Then we'd meet up at our grandparents home and grab breakfast with them before Grandaddy had to go to work. After Granny shooed us out of her house, we'd sneak back to Grandma Kyle's place for one last morning feast with her before being told to get on to school or at least outside for some play time. It was always a fun way to start the day and remains one of my favorite childhood memories.