Author: DJones BranchingOut

Pushing 50 and it's time to try a few (maybe... 365?) new things. This blog is not about reinventing oneself or one's life, but about how much fun one can have while going out on a limb and branching out. Kicking anxiety's butt one day at a time, yeah!

New Menu Monday- Carnitas… from Heaven!!

Pulled pork is fabulous in the crock pot; sprinkle a lot of onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper on a pork shoulder butt and 4-8 hours later you have a magnificent meal. With BBQ sauce for the meat, we round it out with a baked sweet potato and maybe green beans. We all love it.

Tonight we are making carnitas with the same cut of pork and swapping out the sweet potato and green beans for a boat load of cilantro, chopped onions, pinto beans and tortillas.

I love me some Pinterest- that’s where I dug around for the carnitas recipe. This is what I found:  http://www.afamilyfeast.com/carnitas/#_a5y_p=1366830

I changed up the recipe only a bit- freshly made mini corn tortillas instead of the suggested flour, and I tossed everything together on the baking sheet- the onions, garlic and I squeezed the citrus juices and 1/3 cup of bacon grease over everything. I only used oregano, salt and pepper, too, and skipped the other spices. I don’t think we missed the one pound of lard to cook the meat in, either… the bacon grease and pork fat from the meat was puh-lenty. But read the original recipe, it looks great as-is.

It was FABULOUS!! Seriously, try the recipe, and if someone really does cook it in the lard, I’d love to know how it turned out.

This was so good, I’m going to serve it to my mother-in-law. Yep. That good.

Headaches stink.

On the upside, when I am stuck with a two day headache, I have no qualms about doing nothing around the house. I’ll skip errands, tell the family to fend for themselves in the kitchen, ignore the dishes (broken dishwashers stink, too).

Laundry? Bah. I wave my paw at it.

Dogbert waves his paw at you and says "Bah!"
Dogbert waves his paw at you and says “Bah!”

I resorted to the same thing I did the last time I had a headache- pulled up Netflix and plowed through more of Agents of Shield, which is still new to me. If my head is going to hurt, I’m going to binge watch. One more migraine and I’ll have the first season finished!

I’m OK with that.

Cathartic Writing and Goodbyes

I have been to very few memorials or funerals in my near 50 years. I come from a small family and still have my maternal grandparents kicking around in their 90’s. Today, for the first time, I attended a memorial service for a person close to my family.
Willis “Bill” Rogers received a send off from hundreds of friends, coworkers, brother Masons, and family. I was privileged to know the Rogers since my pre-teen years and Bill served as my master teacher while I was student teaching. I tell you, it doesn’t get any better than when you get to review your lesson plans while drinking Cabernet on your father’s boat with a mentor that is as good as family!
If ever you lived in the cities of inland Southern California, I have no doubt that you have benefited somehow from the numerous clubs and organizations that Bill and wife Nancy have been a part of for many, many years.

“The great Creator having been pleased, out of His infinite mercy, to remove our Brother from the cares and troubles of this transitory existence to a state of endless duration, thus severing another link from the fraternal chain that binds us together; may we, who survive him, be more strongly cemented in the ties of union and friendship; that, during the short space allotted us here, we may wisely and usefully employ our time; and in the reciprocal intercourse of kind and friendly acts, mutually promote the welfare and happiness of each other. “
From one of the many prayers we heard today, found in the Handbook of Masonic Memorial Services

In Which I Drink My Husband’s Beer…

I always thought I didn’t like beer, turns out I just don’t like hops. I love an oatmeal stout, imperial stout and various porters. I let the local barflies pick my beer tonight at O’Brien’s Pub, and then the bartender wouldn’t let me get it. She loves IPAs and the Ripcurrent One 20th Anniversary Quad (an IIIIPA!) was too much for her. Always trust your bartender! She suggested the Alpine Duet IPA instead and… well… I don’t hate it. I’d even get it again!

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We Never Want to See you Again…

Some of the sweetest words ever spoken to me were “…and we hope to never see you again!”

Recently I was under the watch of the Polster Breast Care Center. I am grateful for the kindness shown to me every time I came in for an appointment. Never did I feel rushed, never did a question go unanswered. One of the ultrasound docs even sat with me and helped me come up with questions about the extraordinary amount of junk showing up on my scans. Bottom line, after two years and four MRIs, I’m fine. Praise God and the fine staff at Polster!

Bringing teas and coffees to Polster Breast Care Center today. I won them in a raffle at a Mom’s club last week, and have more than enough already. The women who are waiting for their appointments have a restful lounge area to sit in, and I know someone will enjoy these treats. I’d wager that we all have things like this that we could share… look around, is there maybe something you have that could give someone else a little lift?

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Thanks to Anne for providing the coffees and teas that I won!