Pulled Pork Recipe

Having watched Diners, Drive Ins & Dives we kept seeing some tasty pulled pork sandwiches. So I finally got round to trying a recipe - pork at morrisons is on offer this week too, bonus!! It's a dead easy recipe, takes a while to cook but it's so scrummy!

I left the BBQ sauce chunky but the recipe said to blend until smooth - I prefer it chunky. I used a loaf of Tiger Bread for our sandwiches :)

Ingredients
2 onions , sliced
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp each mustard powder and smoked paprika
1.5-2kg pork shoulder , boned with rind attached and tied
140g tomato ketchup
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp soft dark brown sugar

Method
Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.

Scatter the onions and bay leaves in the bottom of a large roasting tin. Mix the mustard powder, paprika and 1 tsp ground black pepper with a good pinch of salt. Rub this all over the pork, making sure you rub it into all the crevices. Place the pork, rind-side up, on top of the onions. Pour 200ml water into the bottom of the tin, wrap well with foil and bake for 4 hrs. This can be done up to 2 days ahead.

In a bowl, mix the ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Remove the pork from the tin and pat dry. Place the roasting tin on the hob, pour in the ketchup mixture and bubble vigorously for 10-15 mins until thick and glossy. Remove the bay leaves. Smear half the sauce mixture over the meat.

Heat a combined oven-grill to high, place the pork on a baking tray and cook each side for 10-15 mins until nicely charred.

Lift the pork onto a large plate or tray. Remove string and peel off the skin. Using 2 forks, shred the meat into chunky pieces. Add 3-4 tbsp of the barbecue sauce to the meat and toss everything well to coat. Pile into rolls and serve with extra sauce.

Full recipe (including how to cook on a BBQ) is here: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2252641/bbq-pulled-pork-sandwich

Cervical Screening

Today is 4 years to the date of Jade Goody's funeral, it was reported on the radio this morning the amount of women having their cervical smear has dropped.  Please ladies go and have your cervical smear!

I am 28 and I had my first at the age of 26 which came back abnormal with moderate changes (you can have slight, moderate or severe changes) and I had to go into hospital to have the abnormal cells removed.  Without this intervention, the cells could turn into cancer so I am very grateful for the smear.  I will always get mine done, since then my smear came back with borderline changes so I had to go back 6 months later for another which came back clear and I am now on an annual check up.

The smear itself is nothing, doesn’t hurt and it’s really quick so please please get your smear done as it could save your life.   The smear only takes 5 minutes, what is 5 minutes compared to the rest of your life??  You can find more information on the NHS website here. 

The Falcondale, Lampeter

We visited The Falcondale for their set lunch menu, 2 courses for £15.95 or 3 courses for £19.50.  The lounge area and the restaurant itself were VERY cold, the heating wasn’t on and we were a little bit frozen on a cold day!  However the waiter brought a radiator over to our table to warm us up a bit.

For starters, mum and I chose Cheese Souffle with salted beets and cabernet sauvignon vinaigrette – wow, yummy yumm, this was sooo nice and light and tasty and the different beetroots were gorgeous – the only thing?  Well we could have both eaten two of them! 

For mains I went for Collops of Welsh Beef with triple cooked chips, shitake mushroom and basil sauce – my only complaint would be there wasn’t much beef or sauce, there were 3 small rounds of beef which was cooked perfectly and very tender but could have done with a bit more, there were more chips than there was beef and I don’t think carbohydrates should make up the bulk of your meal.  The sauce and the mushrooms were very tasty.  In terms of veg, again we didn’t get much for the table, a tiny little dish with perhaps 3 florets of broccoli, a couple of mange tout, a few peas and carrots – so just your run of the mill veg.  Mum had salmon with wilted spinach, dauphine potatoes and a white wine and mushroom sauce – salmon was cooked perfectly and the sauce was very tasty, it was the first time we have both had dauphine potatoes and wow they were scrummy, something to cook this weekend me thinks!! 

We were still hungry when it came to dessert as the portions had only been small so we both went for Sticky Toffee Pudding with custard, this looked like a huge piece but in fact it was lovely and light and soft, melted in your mouth.

So all in all it was a nice lunch, but I think as we were spoilt by Hundred House yesterday it was a little disappointing in terms of portions sizes.  However we ate three courses and were probably just right, compared to yesterday when three course was probably a bit much and I was over full!  So it depends on the size of your appetite, if you have a bit appetite you will be disappointed.

Dizzy came with us to visit a family friend, she will be 14 this year and does struggle with her back legs now, she is very wobbly but as long as she is not in pain and still happy to go visiting and can still manage a short walk.  I expect it won’t be long before we do have to make a decision and it will be a horrible decision to make, but for now we’re just enjoying her and making her comfortable.

The Hundred House Hotel, Norton

We visited Hundred House for Easter Sunday lunch, their Sunday lunch menu is basically a cut down a la carte menu and for three course it is £19.95 (or two for £16.95).  Which is a real bargain when you consider the quality and the amount of food you get.

For starters I decided on the tapas of meat with pate and focaccia – I couldn’t eat the pate being 6 months pregnant, however I devoured the rest and it was beautiful!  The meats were so tasty and there was a gorgeous tasty sundried tomato paste which was really yummy!  Hubby had one of their signature starters - Black Pudding, Chorizo & Apple Stack with Moydens Smoked Cheese Sauce & Crispy Onion Rings – which he absolutely loves and it is a massive portion, you could almost use it as a main course.  Mum had a kipper mousse which she said was really tasty and again was a decent portion size.

Black Pudding

For mains I decided on Breast of Chicken Stuffed with Ricotta, Spinach & Pinenuts with Tomato & Basil – the chicken was beautifully cooked, plenty of sauce with the meal (something a lot of places scrimp upon!) and the filling was very tasty.  It came with roast potatoes, mash, ratatouille and celeriac – its so nice to have vegetables which are a bit different to the norm.  However we also got a bowl of veg for the table which consisted of courgettes, carrot and swede mash and some of your usual veggies.  Hubby had the Suet Pudding of venison and beef with Juniper Sauce – this again was a huge portion and was so tasty, it was beautifully cooked.  Finally mum had fillet of Hake Stuffed with Salmon & Dill Mousse Served with Chive Cream Sauce and again, now complaints, only some mmmms and ahhhs to be heard, the fish was cooked to perfection and was really tasty.

For dessert I went for Hazelnut Meringues with Chocolate Sauce & honeycomb ice cream – I don’t normally ‘do’ ice cream but this was DIVINE!!  Beautiful home made ice cream which was more honeycomb than it was ice cream, it was so tasty and scrumptious, the meringues were beautiful too and came with plenty of chocolate sauce (I am always disappointed when all you get is a token amount!!).  Hubby had apple pie with a really nice light custard, again another lovely homemade dessert.

You really cannot beat their Sunday Lunch, yes the a la carte of an evening can work out expensive but it is worth it, so when you consider the Sunday Lunch it really CANNOT be beaten.  Next time hubby can get away from work on a Sunday we will be there!!!

Maternity Bras

Aargh I am getting fed up of bras, I hate bra shopping, it is a right pain and I am not particularly keen on getting measured.  My normal bra has started to dig in as it is underwired and isn’t a maternity bra, I also though that when I am in hospital I don’t want an underwire as I want to be more comfortable if I am in bed. 

So I started my hunt for a non wired maternity bra.  I ordered a Royce Emily Nursing Bra in 32H (same size as my current bra) and when it came it was too tight around my body so I thought I needed a 34.  I went into Mothercare to try on their Blooming Marvellous twin pack bras and a 34H was too big, a 32G fit perfectly round me but the cup was too small.  Typically they hadn’t got a 32H – grrrr!!!  Anyway I went online and the same bra set was £10 cheaper on their website so I ordered them.  When they came they were too small, both around my body and in the cup – how does that work???  So I took them back to get my money back and am still without a non wired bra! 

Would be glad of any suggestions??  I don’t want to spend a fortune as I won’t be wearing it long.  However could do with getting one from the High Street so I can try it on.  I struggle with the sizes though being small around my torso and big in the cup, some bigger cups don’t start from 32 and will start at 34. 

 

Babydan Playpen Lite

I chose this playpen as I didn’t like the ones with bars, my reason for using the playpen is we have a cat and dogs and I know full well that one of them will steal the baby’s toys given half the chance and also I am not sure how she is going to take to a baby so I wanted a playpen that was a bit more secure, it also is a lot lighter and looks nicer (I think).  It’s really light to move it from room to room which is great and quite easy to clip together the panels as well – they just have connectors at the top and bottom and a rod which goes in between to hold them in place.  I think it will come in useful and seems good quality.

http://www.babydanplaypen.co.uk/babydan-playpen-lite.html

BabyStart Ria 3

This pushchair is normally £79.99 but is currently on offer at £49.99 at Argos.  Using an Emma’s Diary voucher it worked out at £24.99 – so I didn’t think you could go wrong for that.  We had been looking at the Quinny Zapp Extra and the Baby Jogger Mini but didn’t want to spend a fortune in case it wasn’t used much.  We have the iCandy apple travel system and although I love it, it is big, heavy and cumbersome so I thought for holidays and quick trips to the shop I wanted something lightweight which we could use from birth.

The Ria does the job really, yes it feels a bit cheap and plasticy compared to some but that’s because it is cheap.  I like the styling, it still looks nice and doesn’t look particularly cheap.  It folds up really easily and folds down in half so is still fairly wide measuring  but the wheels come off easily should you need to – the only thing I don’t like is the footrest sort of sticks up when folded and doesn’t fold in on itself - on a plane I could see it might get damaged?  I like the single handle on the pushchair, am not keen on two handles, it seems to be nice and light and easy to manoeuvre – can’t see it coping too well on rough terrain but I have my iCandy for that.  The seat folds flat and sits up at different degrees by adjusting a strap at the back – child can only ever lie flat or face forward.  The bumper bar/tray simply clicks in but is a bit awkward to get off as the catches are a bit placsticy and awkward so I don’t expect I will use that on it when she is older.  Harness seems sturdy enough.  It also came with a rain cover which Velcros over the whole pushchair and looks like it will keep baby nice and dry.  Finally I like the little peep hole in the canopy/hood so you can see what your little one is up to!

So all in all I would recommend it as a second pushchair if you can get it at sale prices – I don’t think I would want to pay £79.99 for it as I think it is more like a £50 pushchair really.