Like every Labor Day weekend, Bob heads to Atlanta and I stay home with the furry creatures for a weekend of doing … well, whatever I want. I know I could probably go with him if I really wanted to but I don’t like taking off work in the first few weeks of school if I can help it and, in all honesty, a weekend with 100,000 or so people is not my idea of fun.

So this week I’ve caught up on work. Boring, but productive. I’ve planned menus for next week and braved the grocery store mid morning on a Saturday. That is one of those things you do now and again just to remember why stopping on the way home from work is so much better.

Leta was coming over for lunch today – we decided to do a little girl’s catch up today – so I decided to make the BBQ pulled pork with a nice summer salad and experiment with a new pie.

Grandmom made the best BBQ sauce – she really did. I’ve used her basic recipe for years, and tweaked it to make it kind of grand mom’s BBQ sauce. The recipe is fairly basic, but honestly, it has never disappointed.

My version of Grandmom’s BBQ sauce:

• 1/2 cup catsup
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon vinegar (apple cider or rice vinegar works well)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon season all
• 1/2 teaspoon BBQ seasoning

Mix all the ingredients on the stove and bring to a boil. Boil, stirring, for one minute.

That’s it – that is the whole thing. Not complex and the ingredients don’t have to be perfect – add more mustard or less onion as you see fit. I’ve even substituted various seasonings for things I didn’t have on hand – season all can be hard to find, but cumin and paprika substitute ok. No garlic salt, no problem, mince a clove and you are fine.

The Pulled Pork is also a go to favorite. its easy and makes lots of leftovers.

• 1 pork butt or half picnic (bone in)
• chili powder
• salt and pepper
• 1 bottle beer (or hard cider or regular apple juice)
• 1 – 1 1/2 cups broth (chicken, vegetable, beef – doesn’t really matter)

Season the pork with the chili powder salt and pepper. Sear on all sides. Pour in the beer (or juice) into the pot and add broth until about 1/2 of the pork is in liquid. Cover tightly and braise in a 275 degree oven for about 2.5 hours. (This make take longer depending on size, but 2.5 is about right for a 3-4 pound pork shoulder. Pull out of liquid and shred with two fork.

The salad was all the things that say summer to me – corn, tomatoes, cucumber – mixed with some arugula and a nice vinaigrette. I did marinade the the corn, tomato, cucumber and onion mixture for an hour before adding in the chives and arugula and that did work really well.

The pie I made for dessert will be its own post. I realized that getting back into the swing of work has left me with little to write about, so I decided to save the pie. I haven’t been that adventurous in cooking now that I’m at work every day, but I’m hoping to get a little more creative soon. No promises, but hopefully.