My Fashion Confession: Root Beer Pulled Pork Rocked My World

Let's get something straight: I don't do root beer. I don't really do regular beer either, but that's a beast of another nature and a story for another day. I don't do root beer and that's that. Or it was until I came across this recipe on A Year of Slow Cooking for Slow Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork. I read through the ingredients list and my stomach growled at me like "Yeah baby, that's my jam!" and my stomach is never wrong. When my grandmother asked what we should have for Sunday dinner a few days ago I knew exactly what should go on the shopping list. This stuff:

More specifically, you will need:

A Crockpot

A 2 pound pork roast

1 Cup of Root Beer (the original recipe called for 2 cups, but that was too much for my crockpot)

1 onion, sliced

2 teaspoons of hot sauce

1 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ginger

1 tsp chili powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Step 1: Add the brown sugar to a bowl. I just put it straight in the measuring cup to avoid messing up an extra dish :)

Step 2: Dump the all spice in with the brown sugar. Don't worry. They'll mingle and make friends.

Step 3: Add the ginger. I like to put a paper towel under my measuring cups so that all ingredient casualties like the ginger spill below wind up on the paper towel and not the counter.

Step 4: Chili Powder. Okay so you don't actually need to add the spices in this order, but I took pictures of most of the steps for once so I feel the need to post and narrate all of the pictures because I'm quite proud that I remembered.

Step 5: Add a cup of ketchup to the spice bowl without squirting any on yourself or innocent bystanders. What? It's harder than it sounds. Don't judge me. Stir the ketchup and spices until they are well mixed.

Step 6: Get your Granny involved and ask her to put the pot roast in the Crock Pot because you don't touch raw meat and because she likes to rinse the roast before it goes in the dish which involves holding a slab of meat for an even longer period of time.

Step 6.5: Do not ask Ashley why she is okay with eating the cooked meat, but not okay with touching it before it is cooked.

Step 7: Let your Granny cut the onions because when you try to do it she tells you you're doing it wrong and you're going to cut your hand so she does it herself anyway. Put the cut onions in the Crock Pot with the meat and move on to step 8.

Step 8: Pour the ketchup and spice mixture on top of the onions and meat.

Step 9: Add 1 cup of root beer to your now empty measuring cup and pour it into the Crock Pot with everything else.

Step 10: Stir it all up until it kind of looks like the picture below.

Step 11: Add the vanilla extract.

Step 12: Add the hot sauce. You can add more or less depending on how much heat you can handle. Cover your crock pot and cook until your meat is tender enough to pull apart with a fork. I cooked it on low for 5 hours and high for about 3 hours.