mother's day menu

We had a great lunch with Mom and Dad today to celebrate Mother's Day!  Levi is in Charleston and will be back next weekend when we do what Mom asked for her present - cleaning out the house of our childhood stuff!  That should be interesting.

So, onto the menu.  We had...

beer butt chicken

The only change I made was to add a perforated lime on top of the beer can.  This added some acid and more juice to go into the chicken.  So tender!!

cucumber salad

Everything else was served warm so I wanted a cold dish.  This was really good and easy.  I didn't have apple cider vinegar so I used 1 part white wine vinegar and 1 part apple cider instead.  

bacon-wrapped green beans

These were a-maz-ing!  Mom doesn't like crunchy green beans so I did boil them ahead of time.  I used pancetta instead of bacon and cooked them on the grill so I didn't have to cook the pancetta at all before then.  Next time I make them for us, I will probably not cook the beans or bacon first and just saute them in the pan all wrapped up.  I like crunchy green beans!!

I was really proud of this!  I made bread with the spent grains from Brad's home brew.  Recipe and details in the next post... 

Yummy plate.  We grilled some corn too.  I peeled back the husk, removed the silk, rubbed each ear with butter, S&P and pulled the husk back up.  Just grill, turning once or twice, until the kernels are soft.  Mmmm.

For the beverage, Mom requested Brad's world-famous Shingleritas.  :)

No recipe for this one; just use lots of tequila, a little mix and some sort of orange flavoring.  Ha.  

And, the ever-popular Four-layer Chocolate Delight was served for dessert.  I have never cooked the pudding with the milk, just mix it together and let sit for a while to set.  I also don't refrigerate between layers but do overnight once I am done.  

Love this stuff!  Better than Robert Redford is very similar.  

FIRST LAYER:

1 stick butter, melted

1 c. flour

1/2 c. chopped nuts (pecans)

SECOND LAYER:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 c. powdered sugar

1/2 lg. carton Cool Whip

THIRD LAYER:

2 (3 oz.) pkg. chocolate pudding cooked with

3 c. milk

FOURTH LAYER:

1/2 lg. carton of Cool Whip

1. Mix first three ingredients and pat into a 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake for 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Let cool.

2. Mix the next 3 ingredients together and spread over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until set.

3. Cook pudding and milk until bubbly and let cool. Pour on top of the second layer.

4. Spread the other half of the Cool Whip over the top and sprinkle with chopped pecans and curled chocolate.

~~~

So, Brad went to his Mom's grave this morning and some *&% had stolen the flowers we put out earlier this year.  I mean seriously?!?  Who does that???  Apparently it used to happen a lot before Granny left a note saying "God is watching you."  Guess we need to put out another one.  Argh...

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!!