in a secret location......

As if....the only secret location I have, is the other side of my head, you know the part of you that answers your questions.  Truth be told, I have been kicking around the menu for the Tasting Party.
I have thought about having all chocolate dishes, then I think fondue....I love fondue.....I have multiple fondue pots.  Kathy gave me a white one that she was never going to use or so she said, and a beautiful copper fondue pot that was given to me by Donna, she had brought it home with her from Germany.  I have a cast iron fondue pot from Staub, that I bought two years ago, that I have yet to use.  I am thinking that maybe it is a good idea to have fondue.  A fondue tasting party...I think that it sounds like a delicious time...But then I think...we could have paninis & bellinis.....that sounds yummy, I just don't know, but I need to get my act together and figure this out.

I sent myself on an assignment, and on my way home I decided to stop at Delicious Orchards, I almost had to leave a kidney as payment, I bought Carrot Salad, two Ugly Tomatoes, and a loaf of cheese bread.  We ate the Carrot Salad, it was delicious.  So I decided that it could not be that hard to make, and I made it.  Yes, it was easy and it came out fantastic. 

I peeled about 8 carrots, and shredded them in the food processor, while I emptied a can of pineapple bits in a mesh strainer to drain.  I cleaned and chopped 3 scallions finely.  I put about 1.5 cups of raisins, scallions, pineapple, carrots into a bowl and then folded in .5 cups each of mayo and sour cream.  I then put in salt & pepper.  It was good, but I did not like the mayo undertaste, so I added a teaspoon of sugar.  Next time, no mayo only sour cream with a bit of milk.

I sent some to work with Andrew for lunch.  He gave it to the guy he works with, he had never had carrot salad before.  He said that he liked it.

I was thinking that it would taste amazing on a pulled pork sandwich.  So boys and girls, can you guess what else I made......I just happened to pick up a pork shoulder,  I thought that I would cut it up into pieces, and brown it, don't do that, ok....don't cut it up.....leave it whole, and cut off some of the fat. 

I chopped 2 medium shallots, 6 cloves of garlic.  I browned the approximately 7# of pork butt in  olive oil and butter, there really wasn't any fat to drain, so I sauteed the shallots & garlic in what was left in the pot, then added 4 peeled, cored, and chopped Granny Smith apples, cooked them for about 4 minutes, added 2 cups of apple brandy, scraped all the browned heaven from the bottom and sides of the pan, cooked till it reduced a little, then added 12 ounces of BBQ sauce, and 18 ounces of apple jelly, 2 tablespoons of worcestershire, put the pork and juices back into the pot, put the lid on, and put it in a 275F oven for about 4 hours.  This is what I got....we sneaked a piece....life is good.  Oh, yeah, I used apple smoked salt and pepper on the pork before I browned it.

I decided to make it this way because I was channeling the Peach Whiskey Chicken that I am currently enamored with.  I love that chicken......

We will have the pork on Friday with the carrot salad.

Now if only I could make that Tasting Menu, all would be right in my world.

Muhaahaaahaa........