At Home With GG

There are few things I love more than BBQ. I am the bbq master in my house. My husband, bless his heart, is a great cook, but he is rarely allowed in my kitchen, let alone near the grill. I'm a control freak. I like things the way I like them, and that is that. Don't feel sorry for him. He has gained 30 lbs in the 3 years we have been together. He is WELL fed. The one thing I love just as much as my grill is my Crock Pot. I have two regular sized crocks and a mini one for dips and such. I love the heck out of those things! I make a lot of roasts in my crock pot. My favorite is pork. I love how the low and slow cooking makes the meat happy, and it just falls apart. I thought I would share my recipe, because it was so damn good.  1 - 4lb pork shoulder roast 1 tsp black pepper 1/2c Apple cider vinegar 1c good quality apple juice or cider 1 bottle darker beer (I used Newcastle) 1 tsp liquid smoke 1 bottle BBQ sauce 1 large, or 2 small onions, sliced thinly P...

 God I can't wait until this head dissipates. As my belly grows, I feel like I am melting into a big blob of baby. I'm 27 weeks pregnant today. Its the second week into October which means only a week or so left of this heat business, and I have 13 weeks left of the baby business. OH! And I have 6 days left of being 31. I still can't believe that in less than a week, I will be the same age as Honey Boo Boo's mother. I shudder at the thought.   Is this what the new 32 looks like?   There isn't much more that comforts me than a nice thick, creamy bowl of cheddar and broccoli soup. I love soup. Soup is the ultimate comfort food. I had a friend once tell me that 'soup was nothing more than food and water'. Well, technically, yes. If you want to put it that way, soup is food and water. However, soup can also be a glorious masterpiece in a bowl. I love a nice big bowl of soup, stew or chili on a cold day. Heck, I love soup on a hot day...

In my last post, I promised you guys a recipe for the little culinary delights known as meatballs. Grandma is really good at making meatballs. She is also really good at braciole (the word is commonly pronounced /bra'zhul/ from the Sicilian language). Braciole is one of my favorites. Its pretty much just as simple as making a meatball, but I usually save them for special occasions. If you don't know what they are, let me enlighten you. Braciole are basically little roulades made with beef round steak and filled with spices, cheese and a secret center- a hard boiled egg. If you don't really like egg, you can just pick it out at the end, or you can stuff it with something else like a sausage. Ive never stuffed it with a sausage, but what could be bad about stuffing meat with more meat? Nothing. Exactly! So in this post, I will give you the recipe for both, my grandma's meatballs and her recipe for braciole. You ARE  welcome. First, let me introduce you to Grandma Sa...

From the moment I was ripped from the womb, I have been in love with my Grandma Salerno's sauce. Every Sunday was sauce day at grandma's house. I always looked forward to this, and I loved it even more so as I got older. Now, Sunday sauce is a thing of the past, and boy do I miss it! First, let's get something straight. Salerno is pronounced as follows: Suh-LAIR-no. Telemarketers always had a blast with this one, adding extra letters and syllables. I can't tell you how many times I corrected these cretins over the phone. While I am incredibly proud of my Italian heritage, I could not get married and change my name quick enough. Grandma's sauce is the most simple thing in the world. I may be old fashioned, but sometimes you need to take a few shortcuts. This sauce cooks all day on low to develop the flavor. Also, you really should include meat in the sauce. It tastes fine without it, if you are a Vegetarian or Vegan. If you are not either of these, and you enjoy ...