Somebunny is Thankful

How great is my mom's table? She always has the prettiest set up!

How great is my mom's table? She always has the prettiest set up!

I love Easter, I've always loved Easter. Every year seems to be full of different traditions, but it's always a really nice day that falls at that time of year where you are itching for something to celebrate. 

We were sitting around the table finishing up Easter lunch on Sunday and got on the topic of what a good holiday Easter is. First and foremost it symbolizes what God did for us to have this amazing life on earth. His resurrection hits a little harder than a baby being born on Christmas. It hasn't been overly commercialized and it's relatively low stress. It's a great holiday if you have plans, but also not a huge deal if you don't have some extravagant day planned. It's kind of a make it what you want holiday all done for good measure. It's just a good holiday. 

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Growing up most Easters consisted of dying eggs then scrubbing for hours to get the multi colors off our fingers so mom could paint out nails! A fun treat when you were under the age of 12 or so. Then Easter morning we would wake up to a basket full of goodies the Easter bunny brought us. Only to dump it all out to use for the egg hunt around the house using our dyed eggs from the night before. 

Then it was time to put on a special new dress we had spent extra time shopping for, head to church for a traditional Easter service, then typically go out for brunch or cook lunch at home. 

The past couple of years our Easter has consisted of a beautiful church service then an afternoon of cooking and enjoying the meaning of the day with family and friends. This year it was mom, dad, middle sis and brother-in-law. Brother-in-law's family, one of my cousins and one of my closest friends. A motley crew, but a great crew!

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We sipped mimosas and stuffed our bellies with ham and cheesecake. 

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There was a little bit of miscommunication between Kathleen and I. I blame it on our generation of only communicating through text messaging. We had been planning to make this Coconut Carrot Cake Cheesecake (a check off the Spring TDL) for about a month now. While going over who would make what and when everything would get made, I thought Kathleen was on homemade oreo duty and I was on cheesecake duty. Through our cryptic messages, Kathleen thought she was in charge of both. 

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We showed up having both made the cheesecake...It's better to have more cheesecake than no cheesecake right? With competitive nature we turned it into a "who made it best competition." If I were the judge, Kat won for best exterior and I won for best interior, but I'll let our guests be the judge. 

My cousin just moved to the city and he loves our homemade oreos. We knew with his attendance at Easter, oreos had to be apart of the menu. It's a recipe from the archives, it was actually the first recipe I ever posted, so bare with the authenticity.

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It's not a holiday at the Tucker's without a feast. To counteract all the sweets we had spiraled ham, healthified green bean casserole, cheese grits, strawberry salad, deviled eggs and my brown butter herb gruyere scalloped potatoes. I recently received this Thick & Thin Mandoline from Kuhn Rikon and I've been holding out to use it until Easter! I've never made scalloped potatoes because the task of having to hand slice 3 lbs. of russets didn't quite appeal to me. This mandoline makes it so easy. Just make sure to use the guard! I sliced a liitle piece of my finger amongst the potatoes...

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All these Easter bites were pretty sinful, but a big thanks to the man upstairs for washing our sins away. And for that I am ever thankful!

Annie

Bites of My Life

I've been writing these bites of my life posts every Sunday night for the past three years. I love them. I love getting to take a minute to reflect on the past week. Some weeks are better than others and some more productive than others, but I still love to be reminded of how I spent the past seven days. Time travels fast these days. It's cool to have a reason for slowing down and reflecting on time well spent!

I'd say this past week was time well spent! I always feel recharged when spring arrives, but Easter being so early this year was an extra boost. It's a holiday filled with so much meaning that never fails to fill me up and remind me of the importance of life on earth! Here's to more time well spent in the coming days, weeks and months!

-Crock-Pot Carnitas easily became one of my favorite meals I've made and what I'll recommend to anyone! You don't want to miss this recipe!
-My Spring TDL is up and I'm already working to cross things off! 
-When cheese is involved, it really ups the happy hour ante.
-Nourished Food Bar is a healthy little gem in OKC! They just started a meal delivery service and to help promote, ran an Instagram contest for one free delivery. And I won! Thank you nourished for the incredible lunch!
-How could I not celebrate #NationalPuppyDay now that Gabe is around?
-If you are looking for some lunch ideas, look no further than What's Gaby Cooking's Loaded Power Salad. The basil vinaigrette is the most incredible thing I can't even, and the salad has enough oompf to keep you satisfied through the work day.
-It was a lay low weekend leading up to Easter. Leftovers and a 9:30 bedtime on a Friday is something I will never complain about.
-Miscommunication on who was making what, ended up in Kathleen and I making the same dessert. We turned it into a who made it better competition and claimed ourselves both winners.
-Pretty much every holiday it my house gets treated like Thanksgiving. The food spread is always top notch.

Annie

Crock-Pot Carnitas

This is it you guys, this is it. Officially my go to recipe for cooking for friends, party food, pot-lucks etc. Crock-pot carnitas are a zip to make, but totally bring on the wow. Not to mention they make a truck load, so it's a perfect way to feed the masses.

My mind and my stomach have been on a taco kick recently. One of my co-workers was recently sharing with me how she loves to make carnitas. She was going on about how easy, fresh and healthy they were. Okay, sold. Give me the recipe. So thank you Mel, this one is for you!

My pork butt was a little over 7 lbs. which is huge, but that was the smallest I could find! It barely fit in my crock pot. I think it made enough carnitas for the whole neighborhood. But really. Some for me, some for my roommates, some for sis and husband, and some for the freezer to pull out on a rainy day. Search your market and you can probably find a smaller butt. I was limited and hungry so just went with it. A pork shoulder is interchangeable for this recipe. You can typically find small pork shoulders in the grocery store!

That being said the measurements for this recipe are a little loosey goosey because your pork butt size may vary. Just go with it and trust your self, I promise you can't mess this up. 

Crock Pot Carnitas

Ingredients:
4-5 lb. pork butt roast or shoulder  (bone-in or boneless, either works)
cumin
chili powder
garlic powder
salt and pepper

Accompaniments: 
white corn tortillas
cilantro, chopped
avocado slices
lime wedges
chopped red onion, pickled onions, pico de gallo etc.

Directions:
Rinse and pat dry the pork butt. Put just about a 1/2 inch of water in the bottom of your crock pot. Season both sides of the pork with all of the seasonings. I did about one teaspoon per side (roughly 2 tsps. of each seasoning). Place in the crock-pot. Turn on low and let cook for 6-8 hours or until tender. My pork butt was a bone-in. The best part was getting to reach in and just slide the bone right out of the tender meat.

Using two forks shred the carnitas. Add more seasoning if needed. Warm tortillas on a griddle. Serve carnitas with some pico, cilantro, fresh avocado and a squeeze of lime! 

Perfect served as is, but I also can't wait to use the meat in taco salads or on nachos. Melanie said she uses her leftovers in quesadillas and as enchilada filling! I'm also thinking it wouldn't be half bad mixed with a little BBQ sauce for a take on pulled pork. 

I'm not sure what it is about this recipe, but when I was snapchatting while I was cooking, you guys were going crazy. Which I love. And these  carnitas deserve that kind of love because they are that good. So here you go my friends, crock-pot carnitas for your stomachs to enjoy! 

Annie

Spring TDL

These seasonal to-do lists are starting to become some of my favorite posts to come up with. Cue Summer TDL and Fall TDL. Sorry winter, you got left out. Some of the things on my list I've been holding to out to do, but others I had to think about. These posts let me sit down and think on what I want to enjoy in the coming months. I'm a planner as I've shared before, so it also gives me a plan on what the spring season may look like. Also, there really is no better feeling than crossing things off your to-do list. And when everything on your TDL is fun, why not strive to get them done!

1. Host a spring dinner party

Because as much as it's about the art, it's really more about the food.

3. Take some kind of cooking, pastry or coffee and latte making class.

4. Go to a crawfish boil/convince a friend to have one.

5. Eat outside as much as possible.

6. Cheer on the OKC Thunder at a playoff game.

7. Make this Coconut Carrot Cake Cheesecake.

8. Perfect how to poach an egg.

9. Host a Cinco De Mayo taco party.

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Anything on your spring to-do list this season?

Annie

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Bites of My Life

Adult spring break: it is not a thing, and that is a hard reality. My social media feeds this past week were full of friends who are still in school seen hitting the ski slopes, sunbathing in Mexico, galavanting through Europe and sightseeing in big cities. All while I was stuck behind a desk doing as the other adults do. 

Work hard, play hard though. This week wasn't too shabby. Our last Bachelor Monday for a while #teamjojo4bachelorette, a little casual 5 course cajun dinner with my foodie fam, some St. Patrick's day celebrash, and the opening of one of my new favorite restaurants. 

-Bachelor finale calls for chocolate covered strawberries.
-Finale also called for greek yogurt bark which was an extreme fail. Don't try it. Greek yogurt does not stay frozen...
-Since I was having to be adult this week, grown up cereal and milk seemed appropriate. 
-A chocolate coconut blueberry smoothie bowl inspired by Bailey's using Arbonne's chocolate protein powder. 
-Cafe 501's chef inspired dinner has become a monthly tradition! This month's cajun theme included a course of  oysters, gumbo, shrimp po boy, filet and table side bananas foster.
-As expected, some puppy brother time! 
-A little Irish Soda Bread for all the leprechauns out there.
-St. Patricks day calls for green beer which means washing it down with loaded jalapeno fries. 
-Cultivar Mexican Kitchen opened it's doors last week in OKC. Do yourself a favor and go ASAP. #tacos
-OATastic.
-So I went to Cultivar two days in a row, so be it. 
-Some call it Mississippi Mud, some call it Methodist Cake and the correct ones call it Better Than Sex Cake. I call it the latter because I love watching mom squirm. 

Annie