Archive for July, 2008
July 31, 2008 at 8:42 am · Filed under Food
The arrangement for our stay in the country cottage was that each family unit would cook at least one meal. For my designated meal I decided to try pulled pork on the barbecue. I’ve done it once before back in Beaconsfield, but the pork didn’t “pull” as easily as I would’ve liked so this was my chance to get it right.
The day before we headed North, I went to Atwater market where a very nice butcher man cut me a 3.5kg chunk of pork shoulder with the bone in. He explained to me where the bones were and how they would come out and gave me a rough cooking time (minimum 7 hours, best with 12). I took the meat home, rubbed it with a dry rub of paprika, black pepper, mustard powder and sugar, wrapped it in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge.
Pulled pork is great on it’s own, but for the perfect experience it needs a bit of sauce. Into a saucepan I threw some chicken stock, some apple cider vinegar, some molasses, a couple of minced dates, a minced garlic clove, some chopped tomatoes and salt and pepper. After bringing it to the boil I let it simmer until it reduced by about half then poured it into a mason jar ready for transport.
We headed up to the country with the pork in a cooler, which went straight into the fridge when we got there. I needed the meat to be at room temperature when it went on the barbecue so I got up ridiculously early the next morning (about 5:30), took the meat out, gave it another rub with the dry rub and left it to acclimatize while I went back to bed. Two hours later I was up again, lighting one side of the barbecue, getting it up to about 250F, putting the pork no the unlit side and closing the lid.
Apart from occasionally checking the temperature, I didn’t touch it for the rest of the day. The meat started cooking at 8am, so if we wanted to eat at a reasonable time I wasn’t going to be able to go for the full 12 hours but I decided to try for 10. In Beaconsfield I had cooked it for 7 hours, which definitely wasn’t enough.
At 6pm I took the meat off the barbecue and let it rest while I cooked some potatoes and heated up the sauce. At 6:30 came the moment of truth, as I started pulling the pork. It fell apart almost perfectly; another hour or two would’ve cooked it to perfection, but it was 95% there.
As I pulled off pieces, I threw them into the sauce until I had a saucepan full of sauced up meat which I took straight to the table with some mashed potatoes and one of my mother-in-law’s superior salads. Everyone tucked in, including the vegetarian, and most people had seconds, so I think it was a success.
July 30, 2008 at 8:54 am · Filed under Family+Friends, Movies + TV
My sister just left after spending a few days with us as part of her round the world trip. You can read about her stay, and the rest of her travels on her travel blog. While she was here we saw movies, had a birthday dinner, and other dinners, and spent a few days in the Laurentians.
On the night Philippa arrived we ordered sushi because inexplicably she had never tried it. We also went to Baton Rouge for her birthday dinner (I’m not supposed to mention that she’s turning 30 today) and had take-out from Hot and Spicy and breakfast at Eggspectations. The rest of the time I managed to cook, except one night when Philippa decided to cook us curry.
We went to the cinema in torrential rain to see Hancock, a good superhero romp which would not have worked without Will Smith as the reluctant hero. The story was lacking but the action was good and the comedy made me chuckle. At home we saw Juno, which was amazing, Ellen Page can do no wrong. We also saw Superbad which was very silly (I had been warned) but still enjoyable, and I re-watched Fargo and The Usual Suspects to give Philippa a chance to see some true classics.
The big event of the week was our trip to the country. Jen’s grandmother used to own a cottage on Lake Louisa which she sold a few years ago. The current owners were nice enough to offer us the place for a week for free so that granny could enjoy it one more time. We went there to stay with Jen’s granny, mother, step-dad, uncle, aunt, cousin, cousin’s boyfriend, brother, sister-in-law and two nephews. With us there it was a crowd of 14 at peak time which made for a very loud cottage. The weather wasn’t great but we managed to enjoy ourselves with some kayaking, swimming, relaxing, playing silly games, drinking beer and wine and eating good food. I’ll blog about my food contribution tomorrow.
Sadly the cottage adventure was cut short slightly by the death of my brother-in-law’s wife’s dad. He had been ill for some time but it was still very sad. Oliver Carmichael was a kind man who did a huge amount for his family and community. He is remembered here.
July 9, 2008 at 9:41 am · Filed under Games
Stolen from ex-neighbour-lady…
Here’s how you play:
- Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr search
using only the first page. Choose an image.
- Copy and paste each of the URLs into the Mosaic Maker at FD’s image maker.
The questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favourite food?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favourite colour?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favourite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favourite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name.
July 2, 2008 at 10:08 am · Filed under Family+Friends, Food
On Saturday we attended my brother-in-law’s wedding. This involved me dressing in a suit and tie and entering a church, so for a while there was a serious risk of an improbability explosion of massive proportions. Luckily that was avoided and the event proceeded without a hitch, apart from Aidan talking through the first part of the ceremony before I took him outside.
We had an umbrella with us because rain was forecast, and indeed it was raining when I stepped outside. Aidan refused to let go of the umbrella so I spent the next 30 minutes crouched at small boy height so I could stay dry. Finally we were called back inside for photos with “the princess”, as Aidan had named the bride.
By the time we got outside again I was hot and bothered by the rain and the suit and the church and the disobedient boy, so we went home to change into something more comfortable for the reception. I threw on a less stiff shirt and some casual trousers and we headed out again.
The reception was in an art gallery which was a very cool space, my idea of an ideal apartment. When we arrived, a jazz trio were playing their piano, saxophone and double bass and Aidan was instantly mesmerised. He was still clutching the precious umbrella which he started to strum while he gazed trance-like at the musicians. Most of the meal was spent taking turns with Jen to watch Aidan, who couldn’t be pulled away from the musicians, and eat.
The food was excellent, starting with a melted goat cheese, courgette and tomato concoction including a tiny blob of an incredibly flavourful balsamic reduction. My main course was an anonymous white fish with an unusual texture and delicious taste with a selection of perfectly cooked vegetables. Dessert was fresh strawberries and pears with cheese, and favours of belgian chocolates hand-made by the bride, who happens to be a chef.
Meanwhile, Aidan was desperate to play the piano. I kept telling him he had to ask the man, and he kept getting closer and closer to the man until finally he gathered up the courage to ask the question. The man said no. I can’t really blame him, he was a hired musician playing someone elses piano in someone elses venue at someone elses wedding and he obviously didn’t feel it was his place to make that kind of decision. So we went and asked the groom instead, and he said yes. Aidan spent the next 10 minutes in kiddie heaven gently playing the same two or three piano keys until the proprietor told us we had to stop because she’d had a complaint. Bah, humbug.
Shortly after that though, the dancing started, which was something new and exciting for the boy. We took him onto the dance floor where he stayed for the rest of the night, resisting any attempt at removal until we finally dragged him off at 11pm to take him home to bed.
