Pulled Pork Sandwiches

The Superbowl was last Sunday.  We ALWAYS hang with our fabulous friends from high school on Superbowl Sunday.  Always!  It's a tradition, and it's one of my favorite days of the year.  The Spy Who Loves Me and I grew up together.  Yep, we've known each other since the innocent age of nine years old.  We went to all the same schools and graduated the same year.  We were best friends all though high school, and The Spy was my walking partner on graduation day.  He's still my partner, but not so much in walking.

Each year our still super cool high school friends gather at our home and we hang.  Oh yeah, and there's that little matter of watching the game.  Sometimes we do that, too, but mostly we hang.  Everyone brings munchie food and I make dinner and dessert.  This year I decided to experiment with dinner, which is super risky when you're having company.  But I'm a risky kinda gal.  (That is so not true!  I totally lied!  I am so not a risk taker.  But on Sunday I was.  And it paid off.)

I decided to make pulled pork sandwiches, something I've never made, but thought would be perfect for game day.  First I cooked a pork roast in my crockpot.  I did this the day before.  I sprinkled the roast with my favorite seasoning, Montreal Steak Seasoning, and then I cooked it for about 6 hours on high.  After 6 hours the meat just fell apart because it was so tender.  I removed all the fat, shredded the meat, and poured this sauce on top.  This sauce is the bomb.  The Spy would drink this sauce if I let him.  But I won't.  I made a double recipe of the sauce and mixed half with the roast and then saved the other half so people could pour more on their sandwiches if they wanted to.  The Spy wanted to.  The Spy did.  Once the meat and sauce were mixed I put the crock in the fridge overnight.

On game day I put the crock back into the pot and heated the meat until it was nice and warm.  Then I buttered big hot dog buns with sesame seeds on top and sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top of the butter.  I broiled the buns until they were golden brown and when they came out of the oven we spooned the meat on top and those who wanted to poured more sauce on top.  The Spy poured sauce.  The Spy has a love affair with this sauce. 

Because we were all pretty stuffed from the munchies we'd eaten before the meal, I only served a fresh fruit salad with the sandwiches.  So easy, and so good!

Then it was time for dessert, which is always my favorite time!  For the past few years I have just done a cookie platter for our Superbowl party.  There are a couple of reasons I make cookies.  First, like I said, we are all pretty stuffed from munching all day and no one is really in the mood for a big dessert.  Also, cookies can be made ahead of time so there's no work on the day of the party.  They can even be made the week before and frozen, which is what I did, and it worked out great.

I made these cookies:

Grandma Annie's Sugar Cookies

Sandart Brownies

And a recipe for peanut butter bars that the friend who gave it to me asked me not to share on my blog.  Sorry!  I wish I could because it's a great recipe, but she's a great friend, and I love my friend more than I love her recipe.  But I do love her recipe!

I turned the Sandart Brownies into Brownie Bites by cutting them into bite size pieces and shaking them in a ziplock bag with powdered sugar.  I also made the cookies kind of small so people could try some of everything.  And they did!

I love to entertain, but what I love most is spending time with friends.  That's why I try to make things that can be done ahead of time.  Then, on party day, you're not stuck in the kitchen working your fingers to the bones.  Instead, you're hanging with your peeps.  And I really love hanging with my peeps!

Faith, family, friends, football and food!  Some of the best things in life.

Hope you enjoy stirring it up!