>I confess. As with many of my stock dishes, there is no recipe for this one. I start with the pork roast and add various ingredients until it seems right. Amounts? I usually build it early in the morning (read: pre-coffee), and I don’t take the time to measure very much. But it works for our family – except for Amigo, who isn’t fond of it – so I thought I’d share.

Crockpot Pork BBQ on a bun.

No, the crockpot doesn’t go on a bun! But I couldn’t think of any other way to phrase it.

Ingredients:
1 pork roast (a 4 lb roast serves me family of four with plenty of leftovers)
2 cups beef broth or 2 cups water + beef bouillon mix
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
These are the main components. Now for the sauce. Enterprising crockpot cooks can make the pork plain and add sauce later according to people’s tastes, add a commercial BBQ sauce, or create their own concoction. I combine the last two options.

Daisy’s add-ins
brown sugar
thyme
honey
molasses
ketchup or tomato paste or nothing tomato at all (I’m unpredicatable in the kitchen, and it’s okay).
Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce

Cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 4-6 hours. Baste periodically to keep meat moist. Close to serving time, thicken liquid with your favorite thickener (I like cornstarch and cold water mix, stirred into the hot liquid and then simmered for 30 minutes).

Serve on the best buns or sandwich rolls you can buy or bake. This meat is often heavy and moist and will soak through cheap buns. Go ahead: splurge!

I’ve considered doubling this recipe for a crowd, but I haven’t hosted any crowds lately. Hosts and hostesses could even make two kinds in two crocks: one plain, one BBQ sauce. The possibilities are endless! I’ve heard this works with chicken, too, for those don’t eat pork.

>I think my favorite local Chinese restaurant changed suppliers. Its cookie fortunes make sense less and less often. They are supposed to make some sort of sense or impart a certain wisdom, aren’t they? Last night Husband brought home supper (Dragon and Phoenix: Mmmm) and we had some “What the heck?” reactions to the fortunes.

Husband’s: “You have an unusual understanding of the problems of human relationships.” Really? He’s an engineer, people. He works with technology. Cameras. Television equipment. People, yes, but mostly tech.

But on the other hand…he’s the family spokesperson at IEP meetings. Since we realized that teachers tend to overreact when I, their colleague, bring up difficult points, he’s taken on the Speak Firmly and Carry a Big Folder of Evidence role. He does it well. Maybe there’s an angle to this fortune after all.

Mine: “Smile often, and see what happens.” Huh? This reminds me of the old t-shirt saying: “Smile! People will wonder what you’re up to.” Then there’s “When Irish Eyes are smiling, they’re up to mischief!” I’m not Irish, so that last one doesn’t apply.

But on the other hand…smiling, even when I don’t feel like it, can help raise the mood of my classroom. Kids relax a little, focus better, feel safer. A smile might go a long way during this long, long stretch toward a belated spring break.

La Petite’s: she’s home for a few days to rest and let her body begin recuperating from mononucleosis. We’re helping nurse her back to health by cooking and doing her laundry and taking care of her rabbits – and bringing her Chinese take-out that’s a bit better quality than what she gets near her campus apartment. Her fortune cookie announced: “The secret of success is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.” She looked at it quizzically, read it aloud to us, and shrugged her shoulders. Maybe that philosophy will cure her acid reflux – or not.

But on the other hand…This is a young woman with a very positive body image and no eating disorders. She enjoys her food and doesn’t overeat – well, not often. She’s a pretty decent cook, too, for a university kid. So she’s supposed to let her food duke it out inside her digestive system? What on earth does that mean? This fortune got lost in translation.

Leftovers! Chinese food take-out almost always provides enough for leftovers. I had the Dragon and Phoenix again for lunch today. The cookie with my lunch leftovers proclaimed: “Be patient. Good things come to those who wait.”

This one is simply unoriginal. But on the other hand…I think I’ll sit down, read a book, blog, drink coffee, and wait for the laundry in the dryer to finish. Maybe I can claim the cookie’s advice told me to slow down and take a break.

Or something like that.

>Daughter is home from college with mono. We’re working through Amigo’s annual IEP. Both Husband and I face increasing challenges in our respective workplaces due to layoffs. We’re secure (for now), but the workload increases and the stress grows along with the workload. What to do? Make comfort food for supper, of course! When I found this recipe, I said, “Cheese? We always have plenty of cheese in the house!” I can reach for these ingredients almost any time; they’re staples in my pantry.

Incredibly Delicious Mac & Cheese Bake

1 can condensed cream of chicken (or celery or mushroom) soup
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Sargento Mexican Blend cheese
1 cup shredded 4-cheese quesadilla blend cheeses (also a Sargento blend)
1 package (16 ounces) macaroni, any shape. I used elbow mac.

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water. Drain.
2. In a separate bowl, mix condensed soup, cheeses, and milk. Stir in cooked pasta. Pour into a greased casserole dish. Cover.
3. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

The cheeses called for were actually Parmesan and Mozzarella. I had the taco and quesadilla cheeses in stock already, so I used them rather than buy more cheese. Don’t laugh; I have too much cheese in the refrigerator right now because we stocked up at the grocery store and then the BoyChoir fundraiser of cheese and sausage arrived. Whoa, baby, there are a lot of good Wisconsin snacks in our kitchen! I imagine you could use your favorite cheeses as long as you kept the portions the same.

I used a two-quart casserole dish, and it was woefully too small. I was afraid of spilling every time I stirred. Next time I’ll use something bigger – maybe a 13 X 9 pan instead.

I found this recipe in a collection of coupons and made my own changes (of course, as usual). According to the little piece of not-so-junky junk mail, you can find more “homemade flavor” at HomeMadeSimple.com with a search for the word “recipes.” I haven’t tried it yet. Look out family, I might become scary good in the kitchen!