Carnitas

• 1 teaspoon salt • 1 teaspoon garlic powder • 1 teaspoon ground cumin • 1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano • 3-5 cilantro stems (if available) • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon • 1 (4 pound) boneless pork shoulder roast • 2 bay leaves • 2 cups chicken broth 1. Trim huge chunks of fat off shoulder and cut in to ~5in chunks. 2. Mix together salt and spices a bowl. Coat pork with the spice mixture. 3. Place the bay leaves in the bottom of a slow cooker and place the pork on top. Pour the chicken broth around the sides of the pork, being careful not to rinse off the spice mixture. 4. Cover and cook on Low overnight (8-10 hours). 5. Let cool in fridge and then remove top layer of fat. 6. Pull out the meat shred and remove fat veins. 7. Reheat when ready. Use cooking liquid as needed to moisten the meat. Serves 10—double to fill crock pot.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Steve and I went to Snooze and I fell in love with their sweet potato pancakes. Here are the recipes I put together to recreate. They were almost as good as the ones at Snooze.

I boiled and mashed the sweet potatoes, made the syrup and put the butter together the night before. Also, top these with pecans! So tasty!

Louisiana Sweet Potato Pancakes (8 servings)

· ¾ pound sweet potatoes

· 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

· 3 ½ teaspoons baking powder

· 1 teaspoon salt

· ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

· 2 eggs, beaten

· 1 ½ cups milk

· ¼ cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. Place sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan of boiling water, and cook until tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, and immediately immerse in cold water to loosen skins. Drain, remove skins, chop, and mash.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Mix mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, milk and butter in a separate medium bowl. Blend sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture to form a batter.
3. Preheat a lightly greased griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter mixture onto the prepared griddle by heaping tablespoonfuls, and cook until golden brown, turning once with a spatula when the surface begins to bubble

Caramel Syrup (8 servings)

• Tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Melt butter on med-low heat.

2. Add Brown Sugar and mix together till it becomes moist and sticky.

3. Add water and stir till all the sugar is dissolved and mixture is boiling.

4. No specific amount of heating time is required but I usually boil mine for about 1-2 minutes

Candied Ginger Butter Recipe (16 servings)

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 Tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• Generous dash of salt

Directions:

In a small bowl, stir together butter, ginger, honey, and salt until combined. Serve butter immediately or cover and refrigerate. To serve, let stand for 15 minutes at room temperature to soften.