Pulled Pork

We had some super yummy recipies while our students were here. They have asked for the recipies-so we will be posting them here.

Pulled Pork on a Bun
Y, Tom and I enjoyed your visits to our home. Thank you for sharing information about Japan, and about your school.
We are glad you liked Pulled Pork. I hope you will make it for your family. -Carol

2 tbsp. paprika
2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
1 tbsp. chili powder (use chili powder, NOT chili pepper. Chili powder is not hot, but chili peppers are hot.
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. each salt and pepper


1 boneless pork shoulder butt (about 3 lb./1.5 kg)

Combine seasonings. Untie roast if necessary. Rub spice mixture over pork, transfer to bowl or plastic bag. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or for up to 24 hours.

To cook on a BBQ:
Heat one burner of a 2-burner BBQ or 2 burners of a 3-burner BBQ to medium. Place pork, fat side up, on greased grill over unlit burner; close lid and cook, adjusting heat if necessary to keep temperature between 250° and 300° F for 3 to 3-1/4 hours or until meat thermometer inserted in the centre registers 170° F.
To roast in an oven:
Set oven to 325ºF. Place meat in a roasting pan and cook for about 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until meat thermometer inserted in the centre registers 170° F.

Transfer pork to cutting board. Tent with foil and let stand 20 minutes to cool slightly. Using 2 forks, or hands, pull pork into shreds and place in bowl.

Final preparation:
Pour 1-1/2 cups BBQ sauce over pork, tossing to coat. Pile onto rolls. Drizzle with remaining sauce.
Makes 8 servings
BBQ Sauce
2 medium yellow onions
4 cloves garlic
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups ketchup
¾ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup thin soy sauce
½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1 tsp. dry mustard
2 tsp. black pepper

Cut the onions into ¼-inch thick slices. Grill or broil the onion slices until dark golden. Transfer to a saucepan and add remaining sauce ingredients. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Pour the sauce through a medium-meshed strainer, scraping sieve with a metal spoon to force all the pulp through the sieve. Cover and refrigerate the sauce if not using immediately.

Sayonara Y

Good afternoon Y's family. We have received several comments from Japan. It is wonderful to see how much you care for Y. She had a wonderful party last night and received her certificate. Her kimono was very beautiful. Both Monkey and Big C will miss her a great deal. She packed her bags last night and left this morning to go to Niagara Falls for today. She was a wonderful guest in our home and we felt very honoured to have her stay with us. She will be missed by all of our family.

DPoD August 6th - Another fabulous meal courtesy of Y

Y is all too close to leaving our home and returning to Japan, however she made us Curried Rice tonight for supper. The ingredients smelled fantastic and she spent great time an detail preparing them. The flavour is amazing. She needed to get up on a stool in the kitchen to see into the very large pot that she used to prepare the meal. There was plenty of food to feed 6 with lots left over. The rice that she brought from Japan was very good. She even brought sour plums that her grandmother prepared. They were very delicious.

Her family should be very proud of how well prepared Y has been for her stay. Her gifts have been very gracious. She is very kind and polite. We will all miss her very much when she leaves our home.

Monday August 6, the Ottawa Buskers Festival

Since today is a holiday in Ottawa we decided to go to the Busker's Festival downtown. We looked for a water bottle with a Canadian logo on it and STILL CAN'T FIND ONE. Y really wants a hard plastic Nalgene style Canadian water bottle and we have searched this city for one.

Dave got called up into the first performance and he was to try to catch a marshmallow in his mouth that was shot from a "blaster" of some sort. I have the whole thing on video. If someone can help me to get it on You Tube, I'll post it here. He won the Junkyard Symphony's CD for his efforts.

Then Monkey ended up doing a quick stint up there as well. He was sitting on a bench and

holding up a "Cheer" container so that people could cheer at the appropriate times. Y and CC were both given the opportunity to join in but kept at a safe distance of observation from the sidelines.

We ended the excursion with some vendor sausages and called it a day. Big C fell asleep on the way home so we stopped by the Historic Rideau Canal locks at Prince of Wales and Meadowlands and showed the girls the locks.

Welcome Viewers from Japan

We hope that Y's postcards have arrived safely.

Here is a link to all the photo's that feature Y, our student from Japan:

http://wbfamily.blogspot.com/search/label/Guests please select this link to see all of the posts featuring Y here in Canada.

We hope that you enjoy looking at all the fun that she has been having here in Canada. She is very kind. We will miss her very much.

Tonight she will be making us curry rice for supper. We are very excited about it.

DPoD August 5th - Welcome to our Home

Welcome CC to Canada!!
She arrived today after a very long journey and has been quite eager to learn all about our quaint Canadian lifestyle. She joined us for dinner at grandma and grandpa’s house where we feasted on pulled pork – the boys favourite – and corn. We then had a fabulous dessert of watermelon, fresh cherries and some of Y’s green tea. Her English skills are very advanced and she is quite polite. She joined me at the store tonight and we got her all set for the week ahead, however I’ll have to find out where I can get some arrepa (though I'm not sure of the spelling since she tells me that there's no real translation to enligsh) for her meals. She has had a great time with the boys and seems to be settling in just fine.Here are a few shot of both of the girls pushing both of our boys on the swings in the backyard.

Big C was so blissed out that when he got home he passed right out onto Monkey's bed. Please note that Monkey is having a sleepover at grandma and grandpa's house. Neither the bed got larger nor Big C got smaller.

DPoD July 30th - Y makes a fabulous supper

Oh, my goodness. Today was the day that Y told us she was going to make us supper. I took her shopping and we got all of the required food (which only consisted of cabbage, eggs and thinly sliced pork). We later discovered that she brought the rest of the spices and food with her on the airplane. After a trip to the Canadian National Art Gallery with me to check out the Renoir exhibit, which was astounding, we came home so that she could cook.

The house and everywhere around it smelled fantastic. As she was cooking Aunt H and the Monkeyman showed up. Silliness ensued as the house smelled even better. At supper time we were summoned to the dining table that Y had prepared. There was miso soup and okonomiyaki (I had Y check the spelling for me!). Y showed us how to prepare our meals and we took many pictures of the delightful meal. It was very delicious. We were amazed at the flavour of a meal that came from such simple ingredients. The red ginger and green spice were both very tasty. The omanyaki sauce was delicious and the meso soup not only tasted great, but is very healthy. Y did a fabulous job of cooking and has obviously learned well from her mother in Japan. We ate as much as we could and still had lots left over to enjoy later this week. Thank you so much Y for bringing us such a wonderful meal!

Our day at the "Farm Museum" (The Museum of Agriculture)

Earlier this week the boys went to the Museum of Agriculture. Monkey had such a good time that he wanted Y and mommy to come and see what the whole thing was all about. So this morning we borrowed a car from the folks over at tBF and headed out.

We had lots of fun seeing all of the animals. The boys enjoyed showing Y the cows, pigs, sheep, turkeys, horses, chickens, bull and rabbits. We spent quite a bit of time in the tractor exhibit and Y even went for a couple of rides with the boys on the big tractor.

Big C loved the cows and spent the whole time in their barn mooing at them. It is funny since I was reviewing Monkey's baby book last night with Y and he did the same thing at that age.

The rain did nothing to curb our good time and we will be sure to be back again really soon.

DPoD July 27th - Monkey shows Y all about Thomas

Monkey has caught on to the fact that if he asks if he can show our guest student some of the Thomas he has on DVD that we'll say yes. He asked again this morning and Y was all game. The boys love that she is here and are giving her lots of hugs. Here's a photo of the boys on Y's lap as they snuggled in for some Thomas on the TV.