Random Notes from the Sandwich Life And How Is the Weather?

1. The other day Owen came home from school and said, "Hey Mom, I really don't have homework tonight." Evidently, that was unlike the other nights when he just TELLS me he doesn't have homework.

2. Wonderful chicken stock from my chicken feet!

3. The red cooked pork turned out pretty well for the house concert. They key is refrigerating it overnight before you serve it. You can then just pull off the huge amount of fat that you get from a pork shoulder and be left with a pretty clean broth and the pork.  A few people asked about the recipe so I will post it again. This is one of those tried and true recipes...I've made it a ton of times. It's also good made with chicken.

Red Cooked Pork Shoulder
from one of the more recent Joy of Cooking editions...forget which one...

Heat in a large, heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat:

    1 T oil

Add and toss in the oil just until heated through, about 1 minute:

    4 scallions, cut crosswise in thirds
    2 large cloves garlic, crushed
    One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced

Add:

    4 cups water, or 2 cups chicken stock and 2 cups water
    1 cup dark soy sauce
    3/4 cup rice wine, scotch or sherry
    1/4 cup packed brown sugar
    4 star anise, or 1 1/2 teaspoons anise seed
    one 3-inch cinnamon stick

Bring to a boil, then add:

    1 pork picnic shoulder (about 7 pounds)

Turn the meat to cover it with liquid and color it.  Reduce the heat and cover the pan.  Simmer, turning the meat every hour and basting it, until it is fork tender, 3-4 hour.  Remove the meat from the pan and spoon off the fat from the pan juices.  Slice the meat, serve with pan juices and white rice.

4. Leo's most recent video....

5. Every time Owen comes home from his shift at Exile he has a bag of records. I can't begin to tell you how familiar that is to me.....can not TELL you. Last week he came home with a Turtles album, a Bananarama album, and the Stone's Some Girls album.

Man I love those boys of mine.

6. Oh yeah, and Owen decided he wanted an older receiver, so he used some of his grass cutting money and ordered one off of eBay. He's rather pleased with it.