Pulled Pork - Instant Pot

This was some of the best pulled pork I have ever had, and I made it in the Instant Pot!  It was perfect for serving family and friends on Tanner’s birthday.

"Fried" Ice Cream, Chimichangas

recipe from here

Kirsten & Scott came to visit a day after their 29th anniversary.

We helped to extend the celebration with chimes (one of Kirsten's favs),

and a simplified version of Mexican Fried Ice Cream.

"Fried" Ice Cream
1 pint ice cream (such as Breyers Delights Vanilla Cupcake Ice Cream)

1-1/2 T. butter
1-1/4 c. corn cereal, crushed
1/2 t. ground cinnamon

2 t. granulated sugar
Whipped cream, for garnish 

Sprinkles, for garnish
4 maraschino cherries, for garnish

recipe from here

Line a small sheet tray with parchment paper and place in freezer. Scoop ice cream into 4 balls and place on prepared sheet tray. Keep in freezer while making cereal mixture.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add corn cereal and cinnamon and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cereal turns golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Place on a shallow bowl and let cool.

Remove ice cream balls from freezer and roll in cereal mixture. Top with whipped cream, sprinkles, and a cherry, and serve immediately. Yields: 4 servings.

Our notes: 
We used plain vanilla ice cream to scoop 20 little balls so each person had 4. Then we had toppings to choose from: whipped cream, caramel, chocolate and maraschino cherries. No sprinkles! We decided to add more cinnamon the next time we try it, and possibly double roll the ice cream to get more toppings.


If you DO want to try frying ice cream here’s how to do it:

Scoop ice cream onto a baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour. Place 3 large egg whites in a bowl and beat with a fork until frothy. Place corn flakes, cinnamon, and sugar in another bowl.

Roll ice cream in egg whites and then in corn flakes, pressing to coat. Place back on baking sheet and freeze for 4 hours or until completely solid.

Heat a large pot of canola oil to 375°. Working one at a time, fry ice cream for 20 seconds. Top and serve immediately!

Chimichangas
flour tortillas
chicken, pork or beef
onion
salsa
cheese
tomatoes
lettuce
sour cream

Put meat in crock pot and cook with onion and salsa for 12-24 hrs. Shred meat and set aside.

Roll meat into tortillas a flat burrito-style and secure with toothpick.

Fry chimis in about a half inch of oil at 350 degrees. They only need a minute or so on each side to brown, as the meat was pre-cooked. Serve with remaining with remaining ingredients.

Best Butternut Squash Soup

I know it’s 100° outside, but I couldn’t resist making soup. This was good enough for Brandon to want three servings!

Ribs!

Brandon & Stephanie visited with us Friday and Saturday.

Just 24 hrs., but we packed in what we could!

When they arrived, we all picked our delicious and abundant raspberries.

Scott, Brandon and Ian went to play tennis on a friend's grass court.

Steph and I went for a walk, froze berries and made ribs for dinner.

Since I purchased two racks of ribs, we decided to try two methods of cooking
and have everyone taste test to see which was the best.

Method 1:

Boil rack of ribs (we used pork) in lemon lime pop and Coke for one hour. (Steph usual uses just Coke.) 

Drain ribs and put on grill. Slather with bbq sauce and cook 15 minutes.

Method 2:

Put rack of ribs on upper shelf of grill. Make foil pan to catch dripping for lower shelf. Slather with bbq sauce and cook on low for about an hour and 15 minutes.

The winner?

Neither one! It actually depended on the bbq sauce. Both kinds were thoroughly enjoyed. Brandon liked the boiled ones, as they had Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory & Brown Sugar bbq sauce. I liked the Kingsford Original Smoked Hickory on the grilled ribs. Ian liked the grilled. Scott like whichever one he was eating!

BONUS!
One of my friends baked this divine looking pie for the 4th of July.
Steph and I both want to replicate it for next year.