Regal Beagle Online

or the pork

• 1 (5 to 6 pounds) bone-in pork butt (sometimes called Boston butt; see note)
• 4 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 tablespoon (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the Tangy Barbecue Sauce

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3/4 cup water, for deglazing the roasting pan

For serving

• 12 hamburger buns, lightly toasted and buttered, if desired

Instructions

STEP 1

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and set an oven rack in the lower-middle position.

STEP 2

Pat the pork dry with paper towels.

STEP 3

Mix the salt, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, dry mustard, brown sugar, and pepper in a small bowl. Place the pork in a roasting pan. Rub the spice blend all over the pork, turning to coat evenly (don’t leave any of the spice blend in the bottom of the pan; keep turning the meat until it all adheres).

STEP 4

Roast, uncovered, for 6 to 6 1/2 hours, or until the meat is fork-tender and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the pork registers 195 degrees F (95 degrees C).

STEP 5

While the pork roasts, make the barbecue sauce. Combine the ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, garlic, and cayenne pepper in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer gently, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit until the pork is done.

STEP 6

When the pork is done, take it out of the oven and set it on a cutting board or platter; tent with aluminum foil and let rest for about 10 minutes.

STEP 7

Pour off and discard the fat from the roasting pan (remember the handles are hot). Add 3/4 cup water to the roasting pan and set it over a single burner on medium heat; scrape with a wooden spoon to release all the brown bits. Cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until the liquid is reduced by about half. (The liquid will be very dark; that’s OK.) Pour into the saucepan with the barbecue sauce and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

STEP 8

While the pork is still warm, use 2 forks to pull the meat away from the bone into large shreds. Remove and discard any large pieces of fat or sinew. Put the shredded pork in a large bowl or dish and pour about 2/3 of the barbecue sauce over it. Toss so that the pork is evenly coated with the sauce. Taste and add more sauce, little by little, if desired.

STEP 9

To serve, spoon the pulled pork onto the bottom half of each bun. Pass the remaining barbecue sauce on the side.

Note

Pork butt (which is also sometimes called Boston butt) is misleadingly named; it does not come from the rear end of the pig. Rather, it comes from the thicker, well-marbled upper shoulder. It is not to be confused with a picnic roast, which comes from the lower end of the shoulder and is a bit leaner. If you can only find a boneless butt, that’s OK.

Make-Ahead/Freezing Instructions

The pork can be made entirely ahead of time and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To reheat just a few servings of pulled pork, toss the pork in a microwave-safe bowl. Add a bit more sauce if the pork seems dry, and cover the dish with a plate or lid. Microwave the pork for 1 to 2 minutes, or until hot. To reheat a larger quantity, place the pork in a baking dish and add a bit more sauce if the pork seems dry. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place in an oven at 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) for about 30 minutes, or until hot. To freeze, place the pulled pork in a zip-close freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

Ingredients

• 10-12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or the equivalent of 1-2 breasts)
• 4 corn tortillas
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 small white onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, washed and dried
• 3 limes
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• Olive oil

Peel and thinly slice the onion and garlic. Dice tomatoes.

In a large pot, sauté the onion and garlic with a drizzle of olive oil. Add the tomatoes and oregano, then cook for a few minutes.

Pour in 4 cups water, season with salt and pepper, and add the chicken breasts. Simmer over medium heat for 20–25 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pot and shred it using two forks. Return it to the broth along with 2 limes cut into quarters and the cilantro. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Cut the tortillas into thin strips and cook them in a skillet with a little olive oil until crispy and golden.

Ladle the hot soup into bowls and top with the crispy tortilla strips. Finish with the juice of the remaining lime and a few cilantro leaves.

“Those who think they have no time for
healthy eating will sooner or later have
to find time for illness.” Edward Stanley

For by your words you will be justified and acquitted of the guilt of sin; and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced. Matthew 12:37

When Jesus died to save us, He wanted to save all parts of us and make us whole. And that includes our attitude!

Many people need to get their attitude saved-because every time something doesn’t go the way they want it to go, their first response is a bad attitude. When we don’t get what we want, our emotions flare up, and instead of doing what the Word say, we follow how we feel. We think wrong, and then what we think comes out of our mouths.

Words are containers for creative and destructive power. I can say. “Something good is going to happen to me,” or I can say, “Nothing good ever happens to me.” Either way, I’m likely to get what I say.

With our thoughts, our words, and our attitudes, we either give God permission to work in our lives or we give the enemy permission to work in our lives.

One of the best things we can do is learn to discipline ourselves to think before we speak. When something doesn’t go the way we want it to, instead of defaulting to being negative, have your mind set ahead of time that you are going to praise God anyway and trust that He has something even better in mind for you.

Somewhere in your house there’s a box. It contains video of your wedding. Baby’s first steps. Dad in that hideous sweater, waving at the camera.

Those tapes are dying in that box. Not someday. Now.

The last VCR ever manufactured rolled off the line in July 2016. Every working machine left is at least a decade old, and nobody’s making parts.

🛠️ Your DIY weekend

Want somebody else to preserve your videocassettes? iMemories costs $29.99 or more a tape. Legacybox fall to roughly $20 each. Walgreens starts near $34.99. Easy, but it adds up fast if you have 40 tapes.

Doing it yourself is cheaper. Buy two things to work with your computer’s USB port and free storage.

1. A VCR. Copy and paste this into the eBay search bar: “VCR VHS 4-head hi-fi tested working.” “Tested working” filters out the junk, and 4-head hi-fi models give you the best picture and sound. Expect $50 to $80. When you’re done with the VCR, you can sell it on eBay to someone else.

2. A capture device. A $110 Portta VHS-to-digital converter is my pick and includes the red, white and yellow cables. This cheaper option runs about $45. The difference? It needs a PC and software like QuickTime to record, while the Portta works by itself.

Take the colored cables from the back of the VCR into the capture box, USB into the computer, press play, press record. Transfers run in real time, so a two-hour tape takes two hours. Make it a weekend project with a kid who has never seen a tape rewind.