the end of holiday weekend

Well, here we are at the end of another not-long-enough weekend, and I'm procrastinating yet again.

Why is it so hard for me to start getting things ready for the week?  It's almost as if I feel like I can extend the weekend a little further if I refuse to do laundry, homework, and all of the other mundane tasks on my to-do list.

So, in the hopes that my thoughts are true, I will update you on the three exciting things that happened this weekend.

First off, for any of you that live in the Atlanta area and haven't been to Brew at the Zoo, you're missing out.  I would definitely recommend it!  Not only do you get to see all kinds of interesting animals, but you also get all the beer, wine, and sangria you can drink.

{and I can assure you, my friends and I definitely took advantage of this haha}

It was a great experience!

Secondly, I received a Groupon for cheap movie tickets, so Joe and I, along with a few other couples, were able to see the Hangover 2!  Personally, it was everything I expected it to be.  The story was similar to the first, but what were people expecting?

{and lets be honest...looking at Bradley Cooper for two hours is a good enough reason to go to the theater on it's own}

Overall, we loved it!

Lastly, as I promised, I will share with you a recipe that I tried this weekend!

Because Joe and I are planning to move in together, I have been trying a new recipe every weekend when we visit each other.  Sort of a "trial and error" test, if you will, because Joe is sort of picky when it comes to food.  He has been a great sport with my attempts to make him dinner so far though!

So, the recipe.

Saturday night I attempted to make something called "Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork."

I altered the recipe a little bit so that I could use what I had in our kitchen, but it was fairly close to the actual recipe, which I found from The Pioneer Woman website!  For all of you cooks out there, I definitely recommend stopping by her site!  There are step by step pictures of everything she makes, and if you're like me and are nervous about ruining recipes because you need a visual, this is very helpful!

The pork turned out awesome {but SUPER spicy, so if you don't like a little heat, I'd recommend trying a different recipe} and it made enough to feed about eight people.

Here's what you'll need:

1 picnic roast pork shoulder {5-7 pounds ideally}

1 large onion

salt and pepper

1 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

2 cans of Dr. Pepper

2 tbs. brown sugar {i substituted granulated sugar for this and it turned out fine!}

This recipe is super simple and something great to make if you are going to be late for dinner but want your roommates or boyfriend to come home to a treat!  While the actual recipe, which I'll post at the end, says to cook the meat in the oven, I made mine in a crock pot.  It basically cooked all day while we enjoyed a day of daquiris at the pool!

1.  Slice the onion in half.  Then, slice both halves in half.  Pull the pieces apart and line the bottom of your pot with them.

2.  Salt and pepper the pork shoulder and lay it on top of the onions.

3.  Pour the chipotle peppers over the meat.

4.  Add the two cans of Dr. Pepper.

5.  Add the brown sugar {or in my case, granulated} to everything and stir.

6.  Close the crockpot, set it on low, and let it cook for 8 hours.

{I flipped the meat every 2.5 hours or so just for good measure, but remember, each time you open the pot it adds on 20-30 minutes of cook time due to heat loss!}

7.  After the 8 hours, take out the meat, shred it up using two forks, and add it back to the sauce.  Also, don't forget to remove the fat that has accumulated in the sauce.  It should be easy to spoon out most of it!

For the actual recipe and oven cooking times, visit here!

If you do attempt this recipe, let me know how it turns out!  I will definitely be putting this in my 'keep' file.

Did anyone else do/cook anything interesting this weekend?  Hope everyone enjoyed their day off!

:)