Yeehaw Y'all

I had a night off this past Friday.  

It was a rare night with nothing at all to do. 

And that's exactly what I did.

Nothing.

(It was awesome!)

After that, though, it got redneck-y.

On Saturday night, I went to the Jackson County Rodeo.

Cowboys

Team Roping (poor cow)

Cowboys don't wear flipflops

On Sunday, I had to work again.  But, as usual, I can't complain.

The Great Race came through Bellevue!

The Great Race is a cross-country competition based on "precision driving and navigational skills" in classic cars (1969 and earlier).  It's a test of endurance rather than speed, and each minute over or under the expected arrival time at a checkpoint results in a penalty.

The grand prize is $50,000 so every minute counts!

And it's really cool!!!

I love this car!

Some of the cars are really old...

1932 Ford Speedster

Can you imagine driving cross country in that???  

Unfortunately, Bellevue was not a checkpoint, so the cars simply drove through, in one-minute intervals at 20 miles-per-hour.

(Very precise!)

So people would have more to do than just wait around for cars to drive down the street, I organized a car show of our own, including...

1948 Ford pickup

1956 Chevy

Thunderbird

With great music provided by one of our best local bands.

Razor Ray & the Blades 

And, since it feels downright southern around here these days (90's with humidity that could only be described as "oppressive"), I made pulled pork sandwiches using a recipe by Paula Deen.  

Politically correct she is not, but she can cook.  This was delicious and is being added to the rotation.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Ingredients

1 1/2 Tbsp salt

1 1/2 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp paprika

1/2 Tbsp cayenne pepper

4 pound shoulder pork roast (aka Boston Butt roast)

2 cups apple juice

1 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp Worcestershire

1/2 Tbsp liquid smoke

1/2 Tbsp garlic powder

8 hamburger buns or large rolls

1 1/4 cups bbq sauce

Coleslaw, for serving (optional)

Directions

In a small mixing bowl whisk together salt, pepper, brown sugar, paprika, and cayenne pepper

Place roast in a 13 x 9 pan and rub entire roast with dry rub mixture, pressing mixture into the roast

Cover roast with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator at least 2 hours

In a medium mixing bowl combine apple juice, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire, liquid smoke and garlic powder

Place roast in a slow cooker, pour several tablespoons of the apple juice mixture over the top of the roast, then pour remaining mixture on the side of the roast (so all the dry rub isn't washed off the top)

Cover slow cooker with lid and cook on low heat 8 - 10 hours

Shred pork and cook 30 more minutes

Ladle out majority of the broth

Pour in barbecue sauce and stir

Serve warm, over rolls with optional coleslaw

For dessert I made apple dumplings, using a recipe from one of the ladies in town.

Apple Dumplings

Ingredients

2 cans crescent rolls (8 rolls per can)

2 large Granny Smith apples

2 sticks butter

12 ounces Mt. Dew

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cinnamon (to taste)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350

Grease a 9x13 baking pan

Peel, core and cut each apple into 8 equal pieces

Open rolls and separate

Wrap a piece of dough around each apple slice, starting with the wide end

Place face down in the baking pan

Melt butter in a medium saucepan

Add sugar and stir until well mixed

Remove from heat and add vanilla

Pour the butter mixture of the rolls

Pour Mt. Dew around the edges of the pan

Sprinkle rolls with cinnamon

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

DELICIOUS!