Meal No. 383: Eastern NC Barbecue

As often happens on Monday nights, it was a casual dinner party at the Roediger House tonight. I had picked up a pork shoulder/Boston Butt when it was on sale last week and I knew it needed to get cooked before I left town for this week's work in Richmond County, NC.

So I reached for a slow-cooker version of vinegar-based Eastern North Carolina barbecue, even though it meant setting my alarm and getting up just before 6 am today.

(I always think I'll find a way to take a nap during the day, and it pretty much never happens.)

When they were in town last weekend, my good friends Evelyn and Janelle from Gainesville, FL, had recommended Ina Garten's recipe for Grown-Up Mac-N-Cheese, and so I also tried it out tonight. Turns out the recommendation was a good one, because this mac-n-cheese is hard to beat.