31,556,926

Don't know about you but I had an awesome long weekend! We celebrated our 31,556,926 seconds together (as well as Labor Day) with waffles, wine, Wegmans, lots of violent movies from Netflix, and pork. Yes, PORKY PORK!!! Before I get to pork, I've got to say that this was the best waffle I have ever had and I hope to have many more. Wait, not hope...I mean "I better have many more!!!" Thanks, ICM!!!

On Sunday, ICM had the great plan of going wine tasting and dropping by Wegmans on the way. We've never been to Wegmans and I loved it!!! It was so wonderful that we went twice, once before to pick up picnicky things for wine tasting and then WENT BACK to explore. Tons of fresh produce, tons of meat, they even have a huge section on kitchen utensils and cookware!!! I hope there's a Wegmans in heaven...hmm, or hell....well, whichever I end up in...probably hell?

After reading some blogs on wine tasting and yelp reviews, I picked the Aspen Dale Winery in Virginia. Aspen Dale was great. It was cozy indoors with live music playing and there was also a nice outdoor area with tables where we had a picnic. My favorite from the tasting was the Rose (ro sey) and the Sauvignon Blanc. Yum. Staff were friendly and what sets Aspen Dale apart from other wineries was their paring plate. I've been to a bunch of tastings but this was the first time I've received food (chocolates, cheeses, sausage) as part of a tasting. The pheasant sausages were delicious, seriously!

Yup, that's a picnic utensils thingy...it even has plates...because we're fancy like that :)

We have to back track a little bit into time before I get to my 7 pounds of pork shoulder. I ordered my Lucky Peach magazine (a food journal co-edited by David Chang of Momofuku) a while back but let's just say I waited quite a while for it to arrive. After a treacherous journey, I am happy to say that the magazine finally arrived Sunday morning! While flipping through the magazine, I saw a recipe for roasted pork shoulder. I really had no intention of cooking it but when we were at Wegmans, I noticed that pork shoulder was only $1.29/lb!!! I didn't know how cheap it was! And I couldn't resist...I wanted to get the biggest one but at the urging of someone who loves pork less than I do and maybe more logical than I was at the time, I chose the smallest one there. :)

Lucky Peach is a great read. And if you love food, Anthony Bourdain, and cuss words, then this is for you.

David Chang's recipe in the magazine basically called for seasoning the pork shoulder with salt and sugar overnight and roasting it in the oven at 250 degrees F for about 6 hours. I have to say I was slightly disappointed with the recipe because it made the outside layer of the pork REALLY REALLY salty. But after trimming it out and shredding the pork, it was pretty good. Just an aside: If you ever want to get rid of every bit of fat on a piece of meat, then you should hire ICM - our resident 'fat' police. I've never seen someone as meticulous as he is with getting rid of fat...on rib eyes as well as entire pork shoulders. While my first reaction is "oh no, what is he doing...he's getting rid of the good parts!" I try to tell myself that this is for good health, so I can be alive longer and eat more pork. Yeah....Well, back to my main point. We realized that while this was good, pork smoked in a smoker is way better...more the reason I must acquire a smoker and a real grill. Some day! With the pork, we made carnita tacos.