Smoked Pork Butt & Chicken, Fresh Miracle Strawberry Cake and Fresh Strawberry Frosting and a walk through our yard today as blossoms are busting out all over!!

Fresh Miracle Strawberry Cake is made with a white box cake plus 4 additional ingredients and the frosting is easier yet!!

Brian and I are cooking together today.  He fired up the smoker for the first time this season and I mixed up a rub and BBQ sauce.  His custom water bath was a can of beer and a chopped lemon and a chopped orange so the steam is chocked full of flavor too.

The dry rub:

4 T. kosher salt
1 T. garlic powder
1 T. freshly ground black pepper
1 T. paprika
1 T. onion powder
1 T. lemon pepper

Mix all together and season pork and chicken very generously.

For the chicken after rinsing well and patting dry I placed a quartered lemon and a half of a large onion into the cavity and tied his little legs together.  I also tuck the wings behind themselves so they don't flop around.  We place the chicken on the rack below the pork as the pork is a fattier piece of meat.  You want the pork to lay fat side up so the juices run through the meat and over the chicken to baste and flavor the bird.

We got the whole process going at around 8:30 am and we are cooking all day at 225 degrees F.  When we decide things are done we usually wrap the meat in foil and keep it warm in the oven at 180 degrees.  This allows the juices to reabsorb back into the meat and it generally just melts in your mouth.

Meanwhile I worked up another loaf of the Miracle French Bread Boule and a batch of BBQ Sauce:
1 C. coke
1 C. ketchup
1/4 C. Worcestershire sauce
3  T. Heinz 57 steak sauce
1 t. liquid smoke
1 T. diced onion
2 lg. cloves diced fresh garlic

Simmer everything over low heat in a heavy bottomed pan until thickened.  Refrigerate any unused portion in an airtight container.


Miracle Fresh Strawberry Cake ingredients:

1 boxed white cake (I use Duncan hinds)
4 whole eggs
3 T. flour
1 C. oil
2 C. diced fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and prepare 2, 9 " round  or 1 9 x 13" pan with baking spray or butter and flour  and set aside.

Mix all ingredients well using an electric mixer.  Scrape the batter into the pans and bake until cake tests done when a skewer in placed in the center of the cake.  (about 40 minutes.)  Cook 15 minutes and remove from the round pans onto a cooking rack.  When completely cooled make the frosting and ice the cake.

Fresh Strawberry Frosting:

1/2 C. diced fresh strawberries
1 pound box of powdered sugar
1 stick soft butter
1-3 T. heavy cream as needed

Beat all of the ingredients together adding a few droplets of cream at a time to get to the desired consistency.

 Frost layers and serve.  This cake is a Wow and smells heavenly.  makes great cupcakes too.

 Garnish with fresh strawberries.  I refrigerate this cake until serving time.

Between the cooking we took a lovely walk in our yard and enjoyed all of the spring blossoms!!

During the between times I whipped up a bit of homemade macaroni and cheese and fresh spinach.  both recipes have been given in earlier posts.  We just really enjoyed our picnic dinner and the day we had outdoors and in the kitchen.