Just Another Fall Friday

Ahhhhh what a lovely fall weekend it has been. Sitting here this morning with some pumpkin spice coffee, my senses being assaulted by the amount of fall scented candles in the apartment today (thank you, Homegoods!). Here are a few snaps from my Friday after work. We did a bit of wandering, just enjoying the weather and watching the afternoon turn to evening. 

Oh, and this amazing 70s dress is now in my shop so check it out.

Snake must have just eaten... look at that bulge! haha

Nothing smells quite like farm fresh apples in autumn.

Winding down the evening in a little dive somewhere downtown.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!! 

Pork Two Ways

A couple on a budget still wants to have a nice big roast dinner on Sundays.
For the first time, I attempted to cook a whole pork shoulder into tender, moist, succulent (I swear I'm not trying to make this sound sexy, it's just happening. I mean, it IS pork. These things happen)...

Disclaimer: sorry for the photo quality, I was in too much of a hurry to grab my camera today, so my iphone did the job. 



I have truly, truly outdone myself this time. *Pats self on back*

On Sunday morning, I put this behemoth in the oven. 7 hours later...

A whole pork shoulder. Which then became the Sunday roast dinner (ahem, see below)...

Whose astronomically tender leftovers were repurposed (I mean, there are like 9 lbs left, I'm going to be eating pork in various dishes for a week)... into the below Asian delight. 

This is a wonton noodle soup bowl version I made for my honey... mine sported GF rice noodles and a squeeze of lime. I could probably eat noodle bowls every day of my life. Tomorrow will probably be pork tacos. (Taco Tuesday, duh!). Loving this whole one-meal-lasts-a-week thing. We can eat well on a budget without a casserole dish in sight! 

Juicy.

Have you ever tried "real" grapes? Not the ones on grocery store shelves; no, I'm talking about the mouth-puckering, vibrant smelling grapes used in juice and wine making. If you haven't, you should. Quick! While they're in season- get your hands on some. You won't regret it. 

A local vineyard brought juice and fresh grapes to the farmers' market this past weekend. I smelled their stand before I saw it, whipping around instantly at the distinctive scent. It took me back to childhood walks in the woods with my father, and the smell of the wild grapes along the edge of the water in the fall.

I spent all afternoon slowly eating a bunch, careful to save all of the seeds. I'll be really excited if I can manage to get some vines growing next spring. 

I love the label on this bottle. Maybe I won't refrigerate the next one, tee hee...

Please excuse my gross burn wound scab thing on my hand. Such is the life of the (unprofessional) chef.