Carnita in the Kitchen, Ants in the Chocolate

Sitting atop the newspaper stand were two roses in almost pristine condition.  A simple removal of a few petals and it made someone very happy when they were discovered before this morning's shower. 

They sat on the bathroom vanity looking beautiful in a glass carafe.  

I heard the AWWWWW! before I was sure what it was, then I realized I had made someone I care for deeply very happy.  The day after Valentine's Day with a small gesture can be a wonderful thing.

Time moves forward.  Looking at my watch, I realize that the time was perfect to make a recipe I have been craving for a while.  You see, I've got a definite liking for Pork.  Anthony Bourdain is correct, Pork is a Gift From The Gods.  I'm learning different ways to make it.  

If you don't like it, you have never had Pork cooked to perfection by my wonderful neighbor, Lisa.   She has her spice mixture that she uses, goes out and gets a Boston Butt and roasts it until it is absolutely perfect.  That night, she has been bringing me over a plate full of Pork and Veg, and it has been going on a while now.  We trade recipes across the drive, I bake, she cooks, and it's a wonderful exchange of warmth from the kitchen.

When I go to a Mexican restaurant, I look for Carnita on the menu.  It's a savory dish, not overly spiced like some of that Tex-Mex stuff that people tell me I have to like, or the stuff you see when you go to a fast food place like where food goes to die with a plastic bell on the roof.   No thanks, I'll pass on those Tacos.

Carnita is a dish with various spices, slow cooked, and served on various tortillas with sides.  When you have it at a "true Mexican" restaurant, it is cooked Light and Tasty with minimal fat and grease.   Luckily the Mexicans who have come to the United States have begun to reclaim their national dishes and share them with us El Yanqui.

I went for an easy recipe and found one for the crock pot.  It's in the kitchen now.  I will probably write about that later.   The preparation took me about 10 minutes.  

As I was rubbing down the four pound Pork Tenderloin I was feeling all warm and fuzzy and realized that I had a big Valentine Heart of Chocolate sitting in the bedroom.   I keep chocolate in the bedroom because when I'm home it is further than where I tend to sit.  After all, they do tend to be high calorie, so I limit myself.

Walking past the Bathroom Roses into the bedroom, I opened the box.  Smiling I reached for a buttercream and immediately realized I had made a big mistake.

Ants had found it.

You see one of the things you are told when you are coming from a Cold Climate like Philadelphia and moving to the technically Semi-Tropical climate of South Florida is that you never leave food out unsealed.   Wrap it, freeze it, can it, jar it but never leave food out in the open.   The paper box heart that was so heartwarming was no barrier, the Ants were beginning to attack the chocolates.

Stupid mistake!

There went the warm and fuzzies.   The chocolate heart went into the trash outside, the chocolates themselves are in the freezer waiting for me to decide whether they've been tainted or not.  Now there's a little orange square of ant bait sitting on my high boy dresser getting ready to feed those little brown monsters.

That's it no more chocolate in the bedroom, self-restraint will have to win on its own.