stuff and nonsense

I’m sitting in our family room (that’s the one you live in, right? the fancy one for company that no one goes into is the living room?) amidst a pile of cables, wires, speakers, televisions (one still in the box) and a ceiling panel.  For whatever reason, I made the practical decision to bundle our services (why didn’t I do this before?) and since the guy had to come out anyway, we’re getting the multi-room DVR installed, too.  Which necessitated a new tv.  You can’t have multi-room DVR service with only one tv; that doesn’t make any sense.  In our defense, Travis has been spending more time in the garage either preparing to brew, brewing, or cleaning up from brewing.  So, it would be nice for him to have a tv there and that’s where we’re going to try and set up the old one.

The cable guy has been here for two hours and I have no idea how much longer it will take.  Lots of new wires and cables and connections to make, I suppose.  In case you’re interested, when you get the multi-room DVR, they connect the new DVR units with a new cable.  If you have cable service in a room but aren’t planning to connect it to the DVR system, you can still use your existing coaxial cables.  If you plan to add the room to the DVR network. someone comes out to run a new line because you can’t pre-run the line unless you’re going to hook it up to a cable box.  At least, that’s what we’re told.

In the meantime, I’m waiting for twelve pounds of pork shoulder to get all tasty in the oven, Momofuku-style.  We’re taking it to the annual QUAFF holiday party, where good food and good beers will be plentiful.  This is actually an event where my food is often overshadowed by better food.  I know you’re wondering how this is possible (because my food is awesome!) – hee hee.  It’s just one of those natural progressions that where you have guys who love to tinker until they make great beer, they also tend to tinker in the kitchen and turn out great dishes.  And cheeses.  Breads.  Pickled and fermented foods.  The list goes on and on.

Having service people in our house makes me completely unmotivated to do anything.  I don’t know why.  It’s not like they care if I do yard work or clean the house or work on any of the many wedding projects we still have to finish (or start).  I just like doing those things when no one else is here.  Yet, I feel completely lazy if I just sit and read while they’re crawling around the attic or wherever.  Obviously, playing on the internet and writing a blog post is neither lazy nor productive.

If you’re looking for a dead-easy pork shoulder recipe, here’s one:  Take a 6-7 pound pork shoulder or butter and brine it overnight in equal parts sugar and salt.  In the morning, place the pork in a roasting pan or dutch oven and cook it at 300F for about 6 hours, uncovered.  Every hour or so, baste the pork in its own juices and fat (there won’t actually be enough for basting until Hour 2 or so).  You’ll know the pork is done when it pulls apart and looks delicious.  But, before you pull the pork out crank the oven up to 400F and sprinkle brown sugar on the pork.  Let that roast until the sugar is all crackly and then pull the pork out of the oven and let it rest for about 20 minutes.  Ta da!  Serve with green onion sauce, rice, lettuce, King’s hawaiian bread… anything, really.  It’ll be delicious.

Back to wedding planning – I’m having an issue deciding on flowers.  At first, I thought I didn’t want flowers.  Then, I thought some flowers would be nice if we could keep the cost down and do something simple.  After getting a “simple” estimate back, I’m back to wondering if flowers are going to be worth it.  Is $300 for centerpieces that aren’t the center of attention too much or am I crazy and that’s actually a good deal?