Crock Pot Cherry Barbecue Pork & Butternut Squash

Happy 24th Birthday John!

My son John's birthday was this past Wednesday but since he was in Miami on business we celebrated it this weekend with a family dinner! John loves barbecue spare ribs and pulled pork and I like quick and easy, so for his birthday dinner this year I decided to make pork roast in my crock pot.  I made it using a delicious Cherry Barbecue Sauce from the Cherry Republic store that my friend brought me back as a gift from her trip to Traverse city this past summer (I love Michigan products), I thought it would be a perfect pairing with pork.  It turned out delicious, we served it with some "crack potatoes," baked beans, baked butternut squash, biscuits, a sweet & tangy crunchy coleslaw, and his Grandma Ginny made one of his favorite desserts, pumpkin pie.  If you want to try it out, below you can find out how I made the roast and quick instructions for baking a squash, I will share the potatoes and coleslaw recipes in a future post.

Crockpot Cherry Barbecue Pork Roast
1 4 to 6 lb pork roast
1 Jar of Cherry Republics Cherry Barbecue Sauce
2 Small/med size onions coarse chopped
2 Cloves garlic minced
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:  In Skillet sear meat in a little olive oil on all sides until it is nice and golden brown.  Place in your sprayed crock pot and rub with garlic and season with salt and pepper (I love coarse pepper for this). Add onions on top and around pork roast. Spoon about 1/4 jar of the sauce over the roast. Cover and cook on High for 4/5 hours or low 7/8 hours until very tender. About 1/2 hour before roast is done, drain liquid in pot and add about another 1/2 jar of the Cherry Barbecue Sauce. When done place on platter and let rest for 10 min. before slicing... spoon extra sauce over slices to serve.  Any barbecue sauce could be substituted! 

Seer the pork in a skillet with a little olive oil 

until nice and brown on all sides

Spray crock pot with nonstick cooking spray

Coarse chop onions

Place browned pork in crock pot and season with salt, pepper, 

onions,garlic and place onions on and around roast

Spoon about 1/4 of jar of the sauce on top of the pork

About 1/2 hour before the roast is done, drain liquid and add about 

another 1/2 jar of the sauce

Place roast on platter and spoon onions and sauce over it

I put the other 1/4 of jar of sauce on table for anyone 

that wanted a little extra!

Enjoy!

If you live or are vacationing in Michigan be sure to stop into a Cherry Republic store, they have one in Glen Arbor, Traverse City, Charlevoix, and Ann Arbor. They always have samples of their products out to try and it is a great place to pick up some fun gifts from Michigan, you can also order their products online!

Cooking Butternut Squash...

Butternut squash is pretty abundant this time of year and can be found in farmers markets and grocery stores at a pretty good price too (I think mine was only a buck!). When John and I had a garden we grew some and we had so much we didn't know what to do with it! Butternut squash is a quick and easy side dish to prepare, it goes with about everything and puts a little taste of fall on your table!

Wash the outside of the squash and dry with a paper towel

and slice the squash in two halves down the middle and 
scoop out the seeds just like a pumpkin

Lay cut sides down in a sprayed 9" x 13" pan in about 1/2 inch of water

  

Cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven 
for an hour until tender  

Let cool for a bit and then scoop out soft squash into a bowl 
(be careful the squash can be really hot!)  

Serve plain or season with a little brown sugar, 
butter and a pinch of salt 

There you have a bowl of fall goodness!

When I am serving this vegetable to a crowd I usually season it up with a sprinkle of brown sugar, a tad of butter and a little pinch of salt.  But when it is for just John and I we save the calories and eat it plain... it is delicious either way!

A few pictures of John's birthday lunch we enjoyed with his three Grandparent's.  The only thing missing was his sister, who is away at college :(.

These are Grandma Ginnie's yummy pumpkin pies, 

John rather have pie or fruit pizza than Birthday Cake!

John and Grammie Ginnie

Both Grandma's and Grandpa came to celebrate John's birthday, 

unfortunately his sister could not come home from school :(

What a blessing it is to gather around the table with family and friends and celebrate the milestones in our lives!  I feel so blessed that we still have our parents with us to enjoy these special times with us!