Show Stopper(s)

This past weekend we had a little bbq with a few friends over.  We weren't really feeling the standard hotdog/hamburger menu, however.  We opted for grilled sausage patties with onions and peppers as well as pulled pork sandwiches.  Side dishes included a pasta salad, summer squash casserole, and tomato/mozzarella/basil salad w/ balsamic vinegar dressing.  DELICIOUS. 

The star of the show was the pulled pork which simmered in the crock pot all day and was incredibly easy to create.  Want to guess how many ingredients it entailed?  THREE.  Yes, only three items went into making this mouthwatering dish.  I de-boned a 4lb pork loin end cut, poured in enough A&W Rootbeer to just about cover it and then added a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce.  I let this cook from 11am to 5pm on high (turning and cutting/pulling apart every so often).  It was oh-em-gee good.  Kudos to my friend Alicia who concocted this specialty once before which piqued my interest in making it.  

The other star of the show was the summer squash casserole.  We have been blessed with banana peppers, tomatoes, and yellow summer squash/zucchini from our garden so I found a recipe online to combine these ingredients into one heck of a tasty dish.  I basically doubled the recipe and substituted banana peppers in place of the green pepper.  This was only the third time I've made it, but it has certainly become a favorite.  My husband, who is not a big veggie eater, requests it now.  That's how good it is.

The pasta salad was also simple and continues to be a crowd pleaser.  The recipe is courtesy of Justin's Grandma Kelly: it's a pound of cooked pasta (we prefer the shells), a pound of imitation crab meat cubed, a 1/4 cup lemon juice, 2 tbsp of horseradish, and about a cup of mayonnaise.  Simple and refreshing.