Sweet Pulled Pork Fresh Mex

Sweet Pulled Pork Fresh Mex 

I love making these Pulled Pork Salads or Burritos on a regular basis.  It's the perfect thing for serving a big group of family or friends.  For best flavor you should make the pulled pork and black beans a day in advance.   (And I'm all over anything I can make a day in advance!)   The Cilantro Dressing and the Pico de Gallo can be made a day in advance as well to cut back on last minute preparations.  I love this as a salad, but you can wrap it all up burrito style if that is what you are craving.  Either way the flavors are fantastic!  Here are all the elements you'll need to make an amazing Fresh Mex dinner for your friends and family...  

Sweet Pulled Pork

Cilantro Rice

Black Beans

Incredibly flavorful and healthy these back beans are a hit.  Plan ahead to make this recipe as the beans need to soak overnight or all day then simmer for 1 ½ hours, unless you want to use the canned beans.  Make this a day ahead to cut down on prep work.  

Pico de Gallo 

Fresh Lime and Cilantro Dressing

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Honey White Oat Bread

Honey White Oat Bread

     My husband and I went to hear the Nora Struthers Band play the other night at this wonderful art deco era theater in Frederick Maryland, called The Weindberg Center. It's such a small theater that you really get to be up close to the performers.  It's such a fun place to attend concerts!  Since it's such a small theater and audience, the performing artists usually come out to the foyer after the performances to mingle with the crowd.  It was really fun to meet Nora, (ya, we're pretty much on a first name basis now.)  It's such fun change of ambiance from the Kennedy Center In downtown D.C!  The Nora Struthers Band was fantastic! Nora has an amazing voice and they have some talented banjo, mandolin, fiddle and drummers in the band.  If you ever get the chance to hear them in person I would highly recommend it!  Check out some of their great tunes here...https://myspace.com/norajanestruthers/music/songs.  My favorites are Jack of Diamonds, Travelin' On, Bike Ride.  You can check them out playing these awesome tunes live on youtube. 
     A special old friend and neighbor, Connie Robinson and I have a lot in common...we are both busy moms, play stringed instruments, love to cook and bake and have a knack for getting ourselves into larger than life home and garden projects.  Connie and I played in a string quartet together for many years.  We always dreamed of putting together a bluegrass band, with me on banjo and Connie on mandolin, but with family, church responsibilities and a reality check, a dream it remains!  With our growing families, one thing we did a lot of was cooking and baking. Connie comes from a long line of family bread makers, and always knew when I needed a loaf of her hot-out- of- the- oven, homemade bread, and a visit. Connie shared her family recipe for this delicious bread.  It's definitely one of our favorites.  My kids can enthusiastically eat an entire loaf, hot out of the oven, with butter and honey or jam when they get home from school.  Luckily the recipe makes two loaves so there is fresh bread for Dad when he gets home from work.  One day, Connie and I will get around to some banjo, mandolin and fiddle music together, after a good visit and a loaf of Connie's Honey White Oat Bread.   

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Spring Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Spring Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

In our backyard at the home where I grew up lies a rhubarb plant underneath a peach tree.  
Every spring it would burst forth with pink stalks of red rhubarb and wait to be harvested.  Rhubarb Crisp...Strawberry Rhubarb Pie...Rhubarb Jam... were annual delicious rhubarb creations.  This Strawberry Rhubarb Jam is no exception.  Super easy and fast too.  I love homemade jam, don't you?

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Live Easter Grass

Bring in the Spring!

Easter Grass Centerpiece

Hi friends!  This time every year I love growing Easter Grass for gorgeous centerpieces on Spring tables.  It is so easy to grow and so fun for kids too.  We have loved doing this every spring since my oldest child was a little tyke.  So when it's still cold outside and you are yearning for a little sunshine and green grass, bring Spring inside!  You and the kids will love watching the grass grow!  A fun idea is to place Easter eggs, figurines or chocolate rabbits (in wrappers or packaging) on the wheat grass just after if sprouts.  The grass will grow up around it, making it look like a secret garden has grown around the egg!  Or just let the grass grow wild. These make adorable center pieces and are perfect for Easter.  There are so many fun ways to display the Easter Grass depending on the container you use.  Be creative!

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