Pulled Pork and Thanksgiving Turkey

If you're going to cook, you may as well go all out!

We found the pork buts on sale and decided to smoke

and pull them while the weather was still on our side.

That meant smoking the butts while getting ready

 for Thanksgiving dinner at our house.  Fortunately,

my husband was off work and could tend to it, he

is the better cook anyway!

He smoked them for twelve hours outside, 

off the direct heat.  By bedtime he brought them

in and cooked another ten hours in the oven at

225 degrees.  I could smell them cooking all

night and even had a dream about being in

a restaurant!

By morning they were so tender that

they just fell apart.

We are going to package them in pound

portions in vacuum sealed bags so we have

plenty for the season.  It is so convenient

to be able to grab already cooked meat from

the freezer and make BBQ pork,

pork quesadillas or a pulled pork sandwich.

Additionally, he prepped many of the side

dishes for Thanksgiving:  Paula Seen sweet potato

recipe cooked in bourbon, heavily saged dressing, 

plus cream sauce for spinach.  I made

the green bean casserole and rolls before dinner.

We had pies for dessert and Volpi 

Sopressa salami with a cheese ball to snack

on while dinner was being prepared.

We have our meal in the evening but folks arrive 

around 2 PM or so leaving a lot of time

to visit around the breakfast bar while we

are putting things in the oven.

I used our own sage and rosemary

on the turkey which was about

25 pounds!  My daughter won it

from the church meat shoot!  We will

divide it up so everyone has some to take home.

My husband chose the wine, both reds,

which is not typically my choice but I 

loved the Fantini.  It may have been why

I neglected to open the jellied cranberry!!

Yes, the kind in the can.

The kind that has rings from the can molded into it,

which is what you used to use to measure slices.

It's our favorite!

I hope your holiday was wonderful.