The BEST Crock Pot Kalua Pork EVER!

In March, Papa Bear and his mom celebrate their birthdays exactly one week apart. This year, we had the birthday celebration at our house, since we finally live in a place that is large enough to host everyone. We LOVE Hawaiian food, so we decided to do a Hawaiian feast of sorts, including Kalua Pork. I looked online for a good recipe and found THIS ONE at allrecipes.com, where it has 646 reviews and 4.5 out of 5 stars. It's a SUPER easy crock pot recipe, and my brother-in-law said it tasted like the real thing, so I'll take that as a compliment.

All you need is sea salt, liquid smoke and pork shoulder or butt. And time. And you end up with a SUPER tender, SUPER delicious Kalua Pork, just like you see in the photo above. Yep, that's our Kalua Pork, so juicy and yummy. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 (6 pound) pork butt roast
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Hawaiian sea salt
• 1 tablespoon liquid smoke flavoring

Directions

1. Pierce pork all over with a carving fork. Rub salt then liquid smoke over meat. Place roast in a slow cooker.
2. Cover, and cook on Low for 16 to 20 hours, turning once during cooking time.
3. Remove meat from slow cooker, and shred, adding drippings as needed to moisten.

We served it with Hawaiian sweet rolls, sweet potato fries with a tasty aioli dipping sauce, teriyaki beef kabobs, teriyaki vegetable kabobs, fresh pineapple, potato salad, and strawberries. We even had pina coladas, and pineapple sherbet, to round off the whole "Hawaiian experience".

Have fun cooking!

Mama Bear

Baby Bear's First Fishing Trip

This past Saturday was beautiful, and it was a great time to head over to the Reservoir to go fishing. Notice, I didn't say "catching". We got a few really good bites, but the fish got away! A little frustrating, but a good time had by all anyway. It was Baby Bear's first fishing trip, and we think he really enjoyed it. Once he got used to the place (it was all new for him), he settled in and got down and dirty....in the dirt that is. Almost in the mud!


We all had poles in the water, trying different baits about every 45 minutes like the fishing report suggested. They bit on the chunky cheese Powerbait (don't think that's the actual name, but that's what we were calling it), and on the garlic Powerbait. We even had worms on the hooks, but no worms got taken, even by the diving ducks!



A few snacks, lots of water (because it was hot!), some sunscreen, a camera, a DS game, a little bucket and shovel, and a good book...it all made for a wonderful day together as a family. And a "cheap date" too! At least if you don't count the cost of the fishing licenses for Papa Bear and me.

Baby Bear even caught a few zzzzzz's while out there. He actually fell asleep in his chair, so we covered him with my jacket and the umbrella, giving him a little breezeway, so he wouldn't get overheated.

I'd love to hear about your fishing trips, and see your photos. Or even about a fun family outing. Leave me a comment, and I'll head over to your blog to check it out!

Mama Bear