68 - friday

warning: this post contains a lot of pictures of really freaking delicious food. I'm sorry, t. and I'm going to try to talk about me and my mom "smoking the meat" and "rubbing the pork" with a completely straight face. ready, go.

my little going away party is tomorrow, so my mom and I spent all day today preparing food.  she was in charge of smoking the 30lbs of pork shoulder. we rubbed the meat with spices last night, so it was good to go on the grill this morning. four hours on the grill + two hours in the oven + one hour in a crimped-shut paper bag = recipe for success. I helped her pull the meat apart when it was done cooking and cooling.

oh god, I'm sorry! I know. I'm horrible. but this is what I did today, so this is what you get pictures of. I could have taken a picture of the hour I spent waiting impatiently as my mechanic performed emergency open-heart surgery on my car, but honestly, I wasn't thinking that that was a moment for pictures.

instead you get this. while my mom tended to the meat on the grill, I made 87 red velvet cupcakes. first I thoroughly stained my hands beet red sifted, whipped, measured, poured, stirred, and beat the batter together (I love this recipe because there's a 2nd grade science experiment built into it! baking soda and vinegar explosion in a bowl!!! it never gets old), then I piped...

and baked...

and baked some more.

please don't count them. I made 87. I didn't say there were 87 left for tomorrow. (crap, I just realized I left a piece of evidence in the upper right-hand corner. consider this my I-already-ate-SIX-mini-cupcakes confession. happy?)

tomorrow is going to be a busy day, and I need my beauty sleep. so without further ado, allow me to practice my soon-to-be twang: night, y'all!