Foodie Projects

I used to have a food blog, and cooking was something I considered a hobby. I did a lot of experimenting with interesting recipes, trying new techniques and creating beautiful meals for Joe and I to enjoy. I’ve made fresh pasta, homemade sushi, paella, crème brulee, and many more memorable dishes. But cooking exciting dishes became a chore after a couple years of recording my kitchen exploits in a food blog, and I stopped the blog in an effort to just enjoy cooking for myself again. I still miss the cooking blog occasionally, though, and Joe and I like to challenge ourselves to little cooking “projects” every once in a while.

These pictures are from our most recent cooking trials. I can take very little credit, though, because Joe cooked pretty much everything while I was at work! What a treat to come home to braised pork shoulder in a beer and bacon sauce. Pork shoulder is one of our favorite meats to cook, and this recipe was so tender and flavorful. I’ll take a little credit for the polenta, though, which was my contribution. The combination was to die for, and I had to stop and document the beautiful plate before we started eating. I’m lucky to have such a kick-ass husband!

Braised Pork Shoulder

Basic Polenta

(I added butter and Parmesan cheese)

Also, these are some of the first pictures I took on my new camera, a Nikon D3100. It’s a digital SLR, and once I get comfortable with it, I’m going to take a few classes to get the camera off automatic mode. I took a summer school photography class back when I was in college, but I’ve forgotten everything I once knew about aperture, shutter speed, and all those other fancy photo terms. Even on the automatic setting, these pictures turn out way better than our old point and shoot. Do you like the action shot of pouring the vodka into our lemoncello? 

Limoncello