For Mother’s Day celebrations, I decided that I wanted to have the mothers here at my house. I’ve never hosted a holiday gathering. Before we moved to South Philly our apartments were either too far or way, way, way too small to have more than four total people in them. Now that we’re in a house, we can have a small crowd. And a small crowd it was: my mom, her husband, his mom, and Aaron’s mom. Of course there’s the three of us. Not too many; but, still, it was Mother’s Day and I didn’t want to get overwhelmed – at least, not completely.

We opted for a classic American Mother’s Day meal, that included, yes, a crock pot. This crock pot was a hand-me-down to my husband that is probably older than we are (I think it used to be avocado green but it’s since faded into a dreary pea soup). But it works. And since we were going classic American, by which I mean a throwback to old seventies-style meal, I turned to the queen of classic American: Martha Stewart. Now, I’m not a big Martha fan (I will admit I have watched her show in the afternoon but she’s just so awkward and I’m not that crafty or motivated or clean to be a big fan) but we are never disappointed in her recipes. On the menu for Ma’s Day:

• Pulled pork sandwiches with tangy red cabbage (courtesy of Martha)
• Potato salad
• Spinach salad (courtesy of MIL)
• and for dessert (a household favorite, also courtesy of Martha): Carrot Cake, which we made that morning (ok, maybe we were a little overwhelmed but once you’ve tasted this cake it’s so worth it.

The pulled pork sandwiches were quite tasty although I thought they could probably use some spice doctoring. I like my meats a little bolder but if you want standard (and super easy) pulled pork sandwiches, I’d certainly recommend these:

Ingredients
serves 6
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon light-brown sugar
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
coarse salt and ground pepper
3-pound boneless pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat
Tangy Red Cabbage (see below)
6 crusty white rolls, split in half horizontally

1. In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, stir together 1/2 cup ketchup, sugar, garlic, sage, oregano, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cut pork in half lengthwise; add to slow cooker, turning to coat. Cover, and cook on low until meat is very tender and falling apart, about 8 hours (or on high for 6 hours). Meanwhile, prepare Tangy Red Cabbage, if desired.

2. Transfer pork to a large bowl. Using a large spoon, skim off and discard any fat from surface of cooking liquid. With two forks, pull meat apart until shredded. Pour any juices from slow cooker over pork, add remaining 1/4 cup ketchup, and stir to combine; season with salt and pepper. Spoon meat onto bottom half of rolls; add red cabbage, if desired, and top of roll.

Tangy Red Cabbage In a medium bowl, toss 1 1/2 cups shredded red cabbage with 2 tablespoons cider vinegar and a little coarse salt. Let stand until soft and bright in color, at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.

The meal went over well with the moms. For a large group it was great to have a crock-pot, buffet style, help yourself because I’m done with cooking for the day meal. What was even better was that we had leftovers, which lasted until last night. We put some of the pork in the food mill for Claire and she enjoyed it – though probably not as much as we did. I’m finding Claire to like just a little meat but not too much. I’m not sure if I can handle a vegetarian in the house!

A few weeks ago I introduced meat into Claire’s diet. She’d taken to chicken and turkey but not so much red meat. I was a little nervous about introducing meat into Claire’s diet so I relied on the jarred food. Gerber makes organic chicken dinners and so does my local supermarket brand. She likes them. I was surprised. She seems to gravitate towards fruit and cereal. I had tried, once, to put an ‘adult’ chicken dinner in a food mill but that did not go over so well. (Her face squinches up and she gives me a looks that says: ‘Why, Mama? Why would you give me such a thing to eat?’) So I stuck with the jars. But then I tasted them. I try to taste most of the food that she eats and the Gerber meals with poultry are terrible. They taste like chalk. I’ve read the ingredients numerous times. They seemed innocent enough: chicken, veggies, and usually a grain. Something just doesn’t seem quite right. I was reminded of childhood days of Chef Boyardee: lots of saltiness and color. That’s about it.

I’ve decided to start making chicken dinners for Claire. That’s my food challenge this week. I’ll start by making homemade chicken stock – a good staple for any kitchen. Let’s hope she likes my dinners as much as she likes the store-bought.