Buon compleano!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, but she had to attend the first communion of a neighbor. So I took it upon myself to make Sunday Dinner for her. Since I was tall enough to stir, I have enjoyed cooking, especially like trying new recipes, Nigella being one of my reliable faves. It's been a while since I've cooked and had people over. I used to really enjoy cooking as a couple, but that fell along the wayside as things started to fall apart. I've missed you, stove!

For Mom, I decided to break out the crock-pot the folks gave me for Xmas and make its maiden voyage preparing Rachael Ray's hoisin pork roast with forbidden rice and Asian-style stirfried veggies. Rachael Ray's stuff is either good with a tweak or the recipe is quite off in some way, like it calls for too much salt. This came out quite good. The meat fell apart in a nice pulled style after eight hours of slow cooking, but since the pork was quite large and was not completely submerged in the sauce in my smaller-size pot, it was a bit on the dry side. Not bad for a first try tho! Would definitely make it again. Two and a half stars.