a marathon weekend of eating and drinking

whew. what a weekend it has been. saturday was the annual road runner akron marathon - one of my favorite days of the year!

three of my friends were in the race. gentle ben did the half marathon and the martini and the the viper ran the whole damn thing. in order to celebrate their athleticism we gathered for brunch and boozing along the route at a friend's - mile 23 or thereabouts i believe.

for this year's brunch i opted for two dishes - cinnamon rolls and skillet cornbread.

i created my cinnamon rolls by snagging elements from both the pioneer woman and margaux sky.

i made the dough thursday night and used the first half for a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread. eh. this was ok. it was much too much dough for my teeny tiny loaf pan and it created one helluva mess in my oven but i digress.

friday evening i used the second half of the dough for the cinnamon rolls. i rolled it out thin and then shmeared it with a mix of melted butter, brown sugar and chopped pecans.



i rolled the shmeared dough away from me - rolling in the edges as i went. then i cut the rolls.



now, the pioneer woman puts her rolls in a round pie pan and margaux recommended muffin tins.
i tried both to see what works best.



i let these rise for about an hour and then baked them for like 40ish minutes or so.



of course i had to try 'em out to see if they would be acceptable to serve to friends. they were.



i will also say that i preferred the muffin tin method and will use that from here on out.

saturday - race day - i woke up early and attempted a frosting for the cinnamon rolls. it did not turn out so well so i opted to serve them sans frosting.

i do not have a photo of the skillet cornbread for some reason (it was early) but i will say it turned out pretty damn good. to go with the cornbread i made some sweet butter. i let a stick of butter soften up to room temp and then whipped it with a splash of vanilla and about a 1/4 cup of honey. man oh man. that was good. real good.

we watched the race for hours clapping and cheering for runners of all shapes, sizes and abilities. we saw both the martini and the viper and i distributed booze to both of them. it was a moment of real pride for me. boozing while running 26 miles.
that takes gumption.

we hung out all day and snacked and snacked on delicious brunch items and drank and drank a variety of drinks. finally as evening approached our bellies were growling for more. what better way to finish off the day than some fried chicken?



delightful. wonderful. exquisite. i fucking love the marathon!

oh, and i love this photo.



this is the viper - post race.

the marathon eating continued sunday afternoon as it was browns tailgating at my place. my neighbors put a tv in the bed of a truck and we all gathered outside to cheer our brownies to victory!

my menu was a good one. perfect for football watching. pulled pork, roasted rosemary red potatoes, roasted veggies, polenta and carrot cake.

i picked up a sweet 8 pound bone-in pork shoulder up at west side market from my favorite pork guys over at d.w. whitaker.

i rubbed it down friday night with a mixture of garlic powder, brown sugar, cayenne pepper and paprika.



i wrapped it up tightly with plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge till tailgating day. sunday morning i set my alarm for 6:00 am so i could get that baby in the oven. (then i crawled back into bed until about 8:30ish.) i cooked it in a 300 degree oven for about 4 1/2 hours. once it was done i took it out and let it rest covered in foil while i worked on the sauce.

you'll remember the sauce from the yard sale blowout chicken. it is the best bbq sauce. i fucking love it.



for that lil' something extra i deglazed the pan of pork drippings and reduced it by about half.



then i poured it into the bbq sauce. yum.......
i simmered the sauce for just a few more minutes before attacking the pork roast.

some people chop it. some people use two forks. i decided my own two hands worked the best.



i paired this pulling with a labatts and some clutch. elephant riders to be exact. kick ass album. especially while pulling pork.

once it was all pulled i put it into a big bowl and dumped in the sauce. i stirred it all up and then put it into a crock pot on low while i worked on the rest of my menu.



and this is where the photos end. people started showing up and the browns started playing and i just had too much on my hands to be fucking with my digital camera.

it was a helluva weekend though. eating and drinking killer eats with some of my favorite people on the planet! here's to the marathons and the camaraderie and good times they bring!!