Wow. I have a lot of blogging to do to catch up with all the fun in the kitchen this weekend. I think I’ll give you an overview then come back and put of the recipes over the next few days.
I started my Friday with a long L ride to O’Hare to catch my Air Choice One flight to my parents back yard in Iowa. I hopped on my 8 passenger plane with one other person and took flight for 90 minutes.
I as greeted by 3 of my favorite desserts on the kitchen counter, made by my mom: chocolate no-bake cookies, mint brownies and strawberry pie. Then, there was a trip to the grocery store for items that we’d been emailing about making all week. For an afternoon snack, I made my parents a strawberry, blueberry and banana smoothie. They were impressed by how easy, tasty and healthy it could be.
Friday night for dinner we had homemade mac and cheese, cheddar corn bread with and without jalapeno, broiled mushrooms and roasted veggies. Both my mom and dad were very skeptical about the broiled mushrooms but after tasting them they were wanting to head to the grocery store to pick up more.
Saturday morning I got up and made a crock pot full of BBQ pulled pork. I had a pulled pork salad for lunch topped with diced red pepper, tomato and pickle. Delicious.
My mom went for the more traditional route of a pulled pork sandwich. The afternoon filled the kitchen with the amazing aromas of cinnamon and sugar pull-apart bread. I knew it had to be made after seeing it on Joy the Baker and Annie’s Eats and it’s rave reviews. It did not disappoint.
While it was rising I utilized that time to go through a stack of cooking magazines that had been piling up.
My mom outdid herself at dinner. She made cheesy hash brown potatoes(a family favorite), perfectly steamed broccoli and the most moist turkey I have ever eaten. I took some leftovers to eat on the way back Sunday.
Sunday morning was too short before I had to leave again, but just long enough to have another round of smoothies for breakfast.
Goodbye, Iowa.
Spatoola 