Southern Pulled-Pork Sandwhich

Serves about 8 and the total cooking time would be around 2hr 50min. Okay don't get scarred by the amount of time, it's a super easy recipe. The prep time is 10 minutes and then you just let it cook in the oven for the 2 1/2 hours. 

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

coarse salt and ground pepper

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 4 equal pieces

1 1/2 cups cider vinegar

4 garlic cloves, minced

8 buns, split

store bought bbq sauce for serving, optional

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with the racks in the lower and upper positions. In a small bowl, combine sugar, cayenne, 1 Tablespoon salt, and teaspoon pepper.

- Place pork in a 5-quart Dutch oven; rub with spice mixture.

-In a medium bowl, combine vinegar, garlic, and a 1/2 cup water; pour over pork. Cover pot, and place in oven on lower rack. Bake until pork in very tender and seperates easily when pulled with a fork, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. 

- Transfer pork to a work surface, reserving pan juices. With 2 forks, shred meat. Transfer to a large bowl, and toss with pan juices to moisten (you may not need all the juices). Pile pork on rolls, and top with BBQ sauce, if desired. And you can serve some corn on the cob and baked beans or a simple salad on the side.  Then onto the dessert...

Feel free to swap fresh berries for frozen, if thats what you have on hand. You can always serve these with a little vanilla ice cream or whip cream.

3/4 cup natural almonds

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

2 cups all-purpose four (spooned and leveled)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

10 ounces frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on two sides. In a food processor, pulse almonds until finely ground (you should have about 1 cup). In a large bowl, whisk together ground almonds, cornmeal, flour, sugar, and salt.  Add butter and stir until dry ingredients are evenly moistened.  Press about two-thirds the dough into the bottom of the dish. Scatter raspberries over top and crumble remaining dough over raspberries. Bake until top is golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in dish on a wire rack before cutting into 9 bars. (It will keep up to 3 days in plastic wrap). 

These are easy recipes that will be perfect for a summer night. You can find them on the Martha Stewart website. 

Missoni for Target!

Yup! Get excited Missoni is coming to Target. I have had this date on my calendar for a really long time and decided to include you guys in on it, hoping you won't go to my Target and snag all the good stuff.  I'm super excited for all this. It's going to be Missoni but affordable can you believe it. They'll have everything from clothes (men's, women's and kids) to bed sheets, and dinnerware and more. Oh yea it hits stores September 13. 

Oh yea for our kiddo's Gwen Stefani has also teamed up with Target to make an affordable kids line. She has her highly successful L.A.M.B. line and her Harajuku Lovers fragrances and accessories line, so this is long awaited, especially at an affordable price. Harajuku Mini will range in price from $3.99 to 39.99 and they will have clothes for babies, toddlers and tweens. It will hit stores in November and also in January. Bottom line Target is awesome!

A step up from sending flowers...

Electric Love Rings  $21

Lafco Eau d'Italie Splash Cologne  $100

Modern Playhouse  $19.99

The Garden Book  $45

Surfing Photographs from the Seventies  $40

Kor Water Bottles  $29.95

Forget Muffin and Cookies Office Basket  $ 75  and up

Another great basket $ 155

So my lovely sister Cheyenne turned me onto this website/store that is awesome, they have a location in Hollywood and a new store in Santa Monica, Ca. It's pretty awesome that they deliver in LA and ship anywhere because they have so many great unique items that you can make into a basket. I put up some good finds that I thought were cool, but they literally have something for a kid to your grandma. They also have very creative baskets for an office too. I think it's fantastic for a present as a thank you, or for a relatives birthday or for a new baby, I think this website helps you make it more personable, especially when you call them and put together your own basket. I hope you check out Venokado.

Some good essential books

This is a book all women should have. I received it after I got married, and I reference it often. It's a guide to help keeping every little thing in your house clean, I wish I could follow it exactly but not there's not enough time and energy with a little munchkin running around messing everything I clean up. But it is a great book for your library, it has tips on how to get stains out of your clothes, to how long your vegetables will stay fresh in the fridge to emergency preparedness. You can pick it up at your local Barnes n Noble or online at Amazon.

Another Martha Stewart book, that crazy broad is talented. This cookbook is a perfect for everyone, you don't have to be a chef to cook out of this book. The recipes are separated by seasons, which is nice because you know you'll be able to find all the ingredients at the market. It has easy to make salads with dressings, stir-frys, soups, pastas and desserts. Literally all the recipes have a short list of ingredients so it's quick an easy and they also have good flavor. I hope you check this one out at Amazon or your local book store.

This last book is one that you would probably not pick up, it's a small, and a kinda cheesy looking cookbook. BUT this is my go to Mexican cookbook, coming from California we have really good Mexican and I feel it's hard to duplicate it, but these recipes hit it out of the park. If you want to get crazy and make your own tortillas or refried beans they have the recipe. It also has simple tacos, enchiladas, fajitas, soups and churros and a lot more authentic food. I like to travel with this book in case I go somewhere that doesn't have very good Mexican I can make it for the family. This one might be a little harder to find but I found it on of coarse Amazon

2 new clothing lines coming out soon!

The first line is Paper Crown. It's designed by Lauren Conrad, from 'the hills.' Its a super cute line with great pieces, and dresses that are modern but classic and great for a young mom, going out or what not. The line isn't cheap but the pieces are nice and she's got some great fabric's going on. I believe the brand will be coming out in the next month or so... 

And the second is Denim & Supply Ralph Lauren. This is also a brand that I don't think that comes out in the next month or so.  It is that iconic American brand that is full of stylish clothes and accessories at good prices. They have great pieces that you can mix and match for an eclectic, vintage-inspired look. I believe they will carry it at Macy's.

Some beauty products and tips...

No7 is the best-selling UK import, its available at Target and it is a great anti-aging serum.... Which you can never use too early, especially with all my previous sun damage... or just massive laying out as a teenager. It only cost around $23 bucks. 

Egyptian Magic is a great product, especially if you have dry skin.  My favorite use for it is to put it on my eyes (top and bottom) before I go to bed... I heard a while ago to put Vaseline on your eyes at night to keep them super hydrated, well I upgraded to Egyptian Magic which you can get at Amazon and it works wonders.

Okay so this is something I always saw in my grandma's drawer... so it's been around for a while (love you grandma) but I recently started using it to set my concealer.. You apply it after your concealer so it stays in place and isn't shiny and brings attention to your bags.. or mine. But you can use it as a powder, either way it's great and you can get it at Walgreens, or CVS... its gonna cost you about $7 bucks!

So this is Awesome! This is Jose Maran's Illuminizer, I use this everyday and I add a little to my tinted moisturizer to give me that glow, that I need... I'm not into the matte look for foundation, to me it looks like you have make-up on... which my husband says he likes me better with none... yea right, they just don't know... it helps- or atleast makes me think it does. You can find this at Sephora.

And my last little tip is to try and put a powder black, brown, blue, any color eye liner the closest you can get to your eyeball, I'm talking that lid right under your eye lashes... You can put it just on top or on top and bottom for a more dramatic effect. I don't like to wear mascara often because it flakes on me, so I pretty much, everyday put eyeliner on and it gives my eyes that POP!

I'm back... with an awesome new website.

GOJEE is a website who hand picks recipes from food writers, who know what their doing.  And you can tell them what your craving and what you have in your kitchen and they should have a recipe for you.  You can also save recipes you like and tell them what you dislike and you will never see a recipe with those ingredients. Its the Pandora for Foodies.

Angie's Jewelry

Angelina Jolie at Academy Awards

$68

$48

She wore these a while ago, but I always remember how bright and amazing they were.... Maybe it's just how pretty she is... well I found a website called Sadesays that have the same earrings and ring with a cheaper price tag. I think its a good find that can spice up a simple black dress.

Cooking with and for the Fam

The website Weelicious is awesome. It comes from a mom with 2 kids, wanting to focus on quick, easy, and nutritious recipes that are made from fresh and minimal ingredients. The recipes go from infants starting on solids to school age kids... and even adults. They focus on educating and involving them in the cooking process.  I love getting their emails and trying new recipes, they also have how-to videos.