Independence Day Celebrations are Over - Back to Work

I hope all of my US friends had a wonderful 4th of July. There were idiots around me who were setting off fireworks last night, but I fell asleep quickly in spite of them, and simply hoped that my yard would be unharmed when I awakened this morning. It's raining now, so any missed sparks or embers that could have been a concern are being dowsed by Mother Nature. Yesterday, however, was the 4th of July, a day off, and the weather was absolutely perfect! 

Yesterday was the 4th of July - Independence Day in the USA. 
So we had a day off, and enjoyed it by spending time in the 
garden and doing minimal cooking for maximal effect (my 
favorite type of cooking - LOL). 

I dislike fussing in the kitchen, and DH had purchased a pork shoulder for our dinner. I didn't have an immediate recipe at hand, so I did a quick search and found this one, which sounded pretty good. I followed the directions and it was AMAZING. I will TOTALLY make this one again and again. Minimal work, maximum taste - a total winner. It's called "Slow Cooker Pork Shoulder (Crockpot Recipe - Fall-Apart Tender!)" and it's posted by Foodess. Incredible! (https://foodess.com/slow-cooker-pork-loin/) Highly recommended. I've given it 5 stars and I'm putting it into my SAVE pile. I only used sliced onion at the base - didn't have carrots, don't eat potatoes, and skipped the garlic. It didn't seem to make any difference because it's the slow cooker liquid that really works the magic. I also didn't make gravy - it really was unnecessary, and I don't use cornstarch in things that I eat. 

The sear and the marinade for this pork 
loin was absolutely fabulous. I'm making this 
one again, for sure! 

Most of it cooks in the crock pot, so we headed outside to enjoy the shade on the patio while the dinner did its' thing. After it had cooked for the requisite amount of time, I pulled it out and put it into a hot oven (450F) and started the basting. I had made the basting sauce, and per instructions, poured 1/3 over the roast. Then, putting the roast into the oven, I basted it by brushing on the sauce every five minutes for at least 6 times. Instructions said until the basting sauce was used up. I'll need to clean the oven door - there was some dripping on my part. But it was absolutely amazing - so very tasty!! And all things considered, it was a pretty easy cook. 

My oval crockpot is a bit older than this version, 
but it's a fabulous appliance and I use it quite a 
lot. This time it saved me a lot of kitchen time and 
allowed me to make a total winner of a dinner without
a lot of muss and fuss. 

So I hope all of you had a lovely and safe 4th of July in the USA, and I hope that the rest of my friends who live in other nations had a great Friday. Today I'm returning to the shop for one day of work, and then I'll get tomorrow off. Two days off in three days total is so rare. I'm going to enjoy every little bit of it. Have an excellent weekend, I'll be back on Monday morning. Slava Ukraini.