Carnita is Spanish for Delicious

Not really, but it should be. It's actually Spanish for little meat typically referring to seasoned shredded pork. All you really need to know is that they are simple to make, great for when you have company and really delicious. Here's the recipe:

Mix rub:
1 t. garlic powder
4 T. chili powder
1 t. kosher salt
1 t. cumin
1 t. oregano
1 t. black pepper
1 t. crushed red pepper

Other ingredients:
2 - 3 lb pork roast
2 yellow onions
1 can chicken broth
1-2 bay leaves
tortillas
tomatoes
cilantro

Mix seasonings together and roll the roast into the mix, creating a thick coating or crust.

Put 1-2 bay leaves in the bottom of the crock pot. Place roast on top. Pour in 1 can chicken broth and add 1 yellow onion in large slices. Sprinkle in remaining rub.

Cook in crockpot 5-6 hours on high or all day on low.

Once the roast is cooked through and sort of falls apart, remove it from the crockpot and shred. Transfer meat and 2-3 cups liquid from crockpot, but be sure to remove the bay leaves, into an extra large saute pan. Cook on high until almost all of the liquid is gone. *This is the most important step. The carnitas are good without this step, but so much more flavorful if you take the time to reduce the liquid. It usually takes under 5 minutes.

If you're not ready to eat yet, you can throw the meat back in the slow cooker on warm until it's time to eat.

Serve on tortillas with fresh cilantro, onions and tomatoes.

Every time I have made carnitas for company, I have been asked for the recipe.

A fox, a squirrel, two bunnies and some pink pears

These are the back and front of the same tote.

Hop to it!

Pink pear tree

I finally finished these three totes, which have only been lacking handles since sometime before Christmas, I think. I really like the process of making the actual tote portion and I don't mind making handles. Something about putting those two pieces together, though, I really dread. It's similar to a lot of things in life that you dread, but once you make yourself do, they aren't so bad, like exercising or cooking dinner.

This is the last of this Annamoa fabric from Ikea, at least for now. It makes me sad. I think this is my favorite fabric that I've made totes from.

I put handles on two other totes tonight as well. Nothing better to do during yet another blizzard. Those will be in the shop later this week.

Climbing to the top

Pottery Barn has sold various home decor ladders for years. They can be used as magazine racks or to hold throw blankets or pretty scarves and a multitude of other things. I really like them, but they are expensive! Depending on the size, I have seen them run anywhere between $100 and $300. Ouch. I can't afford that. So I decided - like I often do - "I can make that." Typically that phrases ends with varying results, but this time, the outcome was even better than I was envisioning.

My picture might not be as nicely staged as the Pottery Barn one above, but it does have an Alven in it, who refused to move while I was taking the photos. I guess he was feeling particularly handsome. Anyway, this project is really simple, and most people will not believe you did it yourself.

The two vertical pieces are just 6 foot long 1.5 inch diameter dowel rods from the craft store. The rungs are a couple of 48" long, half inch diameter dowels, cut into thirds. I made this ladder a few years back, before I owned an electric saw. I cut the dowels with a steak knife - which I am not suggesting you do! A handsaw would work just fine if you don't have an electric one.

I wanted my ladder to look old and weathered, so I distressed it with various objects. Just whack, whittle and hack away at the dowels with a screwdriver, keys, claw hammer, small knife or whatever you think will do the right amount of damage. Do this before you assemble the ladder, it's much easier and you're less likely to have it fall apart in your hands.

Use a 1/2 inch drill bit, to make six small holes, equal distance apart on both your larger dowels. Fill the holes with wood glue to affix the rungs. Once it is completely dry you can paint.

Again, I was going for an old, weathered look, so I painted the entire thing a reddish brown with spray paint. Once that was dry, I used black spray paint and did a lighter, sloppier coat, leaving the sides of the ladder and tops of the rungs with some of the brown showing. I figured if this ladder had ever been really used, that's where the paint would have faded and worn away most.

As I am sure you've figured out by now, this ladder is decorative only and while it stands up to our cats trying to climb it and occasionally knocking it over, it should never actually be used by people, including kids.

Olive you

I finished this olive tote up over lunch today. I really love this fabric from Ikea. This one is sold to a friend of mine, but I have two more with the same fabric in the works, so watch for them in the shop soon!

DIY wall art

I did this project a while back, but I get so many comments on it when people visit, that I thought I'd share how cheap and easy it was. Under $10 for a 3' x 3' piece for your wall.

First off, the squares are 12" square scrapbook paper. I just picked papers from two different sets that had designs I liked with colors that go in my living room.

I bought a couple of 1-by-2s at the hardware store. They sell for a couple dollars for an 8 or 12 foot piece. Cut them into 10" pieces with 45 degree angles. Put them together into a square and use a staple gun to connect them together. Wrap the paper around the squares and use tape or glue to stick the paper to the wood. Done.

One good trick to hanging a set of frames like these is to use a long level. I used a sharpie to make small marks on the edge of my level, transferred those lines into dots on the wall, hammered in small tack nails and hung them up. So easy and cheap, but they look really nice. Most people think I painted them because of the texture of the paper I used. Very few people realize they are paper.

Another idea for something like this, although it would not be as cheap, would be to use vinyl record frames to frame the paper. You kind of lose the three dimensional look of having the squares be 1" deep, but it's mostly the same effect. 

Mmm Chevre

I made my second attempt at goat cheese today and it worked out great. I had a much easier time this around. I don't know if it's because I wasn't as nervous as I was last time or if it was because I made firm chevre and the processes is a little different than making the creamy version.

You start out by heating the milk to around 190 degrees. Then stir in 1/4 vinegar with 1 teaspoon of citric acid dissolved in it. It was instant gratification, my favorite kind of gratification. The milk curdled right away and only took about 10 minutes to drain. The wheel on the left (reddish one) has aleppo peppers and chili powder. The wheel on the right is just salt and cracked black pepper.

I am so excited at how pretty they look and more importantly, how yummy they taste. No one else seems as impressed with my cheese making as much as I do. Don't care; I'm still amazed at my talent. Ha!

Thanks again to Urban Cheesecraft for making these fun cheese kits!

A very good day

Yesterday was our 4th wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful day. Had lunch at the Waterfront. I had the Halibut Royale. The halibut is marinated in chardonnay then topped with sour cream, mayonnaise, chopped green onions and seasoned bread crumb. So yummy.

We were going to go to the Des Moines Art Center after that, but we were in a food stupor, so we decided to go to a movie instead. We saw the Blind Side and it was really good. Then we got some coffee and wandered around the mall a while. Every anniversary we stop by the Cosmo Lounge downtown Des Moines for a martini. I had a Bloodytini (basically a bloody Mary martini) made with pepper vodka and it was, as always, delicious. Thanks, Sherry!

Even though we still weren't hungry, we went out to dinner anyway to Sam & Gabe's. We had scallops and duck and were basically gluttons. By the time we got home, we were both way too stuffed to eat the wonderful homemade raspberry cheesecake with chocolate crust. (I had some at lunch today though and it was amazing! Thanks, babe!)

I gave my amazing honey two Alice in Wonderland prints from Unique Art Pendants, which I bought on Etsy and framed myself.

I received the cheesecake (so yummy), a beautiful bouquet of stargazer lilies and this book of Manolo Blahnik shoe drawings. It is a collection of his sketches from the 1970s to the present. They are all so amazing and I can't wait to study them. They are inspiring.

Thank you, babe, for another amazing anniversary. I love you.