Super Easy Entertaining - Pulled Pork

This past weekend we had some dear friends and their kids over for dinner.  I thought hard about what to serve since we try to feed the girls eat what we eat.  We don't want to get into the habit of having to make numerous dishes for the kids.  We settled on pulled pork, jicama slaw, potato salad and mashed sweet potatoes.

For the Pulled Pork: I used a pork shoulder (heavily seasoned with salt & pepper) and seared all sides in 1 tbsp of olive oil.  After it was caramelized on all sides I transfered into the slow cooker.  I add a starter from Williams Sonoma and set it to high.  That's it.  After 6 hours it was perfectly tender and the flavor was delicious.

The Jicama Slaw was Bobby Flays recipe and was quickly gobbled up.

I made the potato salad by boiling 6 potatoes and 2 eggs.  Added mayo, dijon, capers and a little white vinegar to a bowl and combined it with the potatoes and chopped eggs.  Add a little salt and pepper and garnished with fresh parsley and voila.

Dessert was strawberry cupcakes and of course, s'mores.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cupcakes & Pie - Yum!

I love this time of year.  Finally local veggies and fruit are popping up at the farmers markets and roadside stands. One of my favorite childhood memories is heading to a farm on a hot, sunny summer day to pick super ripe strawberries.  Nothing tastes more like summer than sweet juicy berries, especially freshly picked.  This past weekend I took the girls strawberry picking about 20 minutes from my home at Swanton Berry Farms.  It was definitely fun and I believe they may have eaten more than they picked.  They just couldn't resist those juicy red gems.  When we returned home, I made a Strawberry Rhubarb pie for my hubby, which just happens to be his absolute favorite.  The girls and I then made some cupcakes to take to our annual block party (They were a hit!).  The rest will be made into jam .. more on that to follow!