The day of expressing love

We had a lot of fun this year sharing Valentines Day with our loved ones in town.  We invited the local crew over for dinner and I prepared some recipes I have never tried before.

Our menu:  Cafe Rio Copy Cat Sweet Pork Salad

And

Fresh dipped strawberries.

It was a hit!

I have never used tomatillos before.  What an interesting vegetable (or fruit?)

It comes all wrapped in it's own packaging and gives the Cafe Rio salad dressing its unique flavor.

Who knew?

A dozen roses from my love.
  My Blendtec full of this delicious dressing.

I put the left over in a jar in the fridge and it kept for a month.

What a funny little vegetable!

Valentine's Day is a tough one for Jordan.  She misses her sweetheart, and who can blame her.   Rick took her a couple dozen roses and we had their family over for dinner along with Claire, R and their children and my niece Sydney and her husband Adam and their three darling children.  It was a fun evening with a lot of visiting and catching up.  The kids always have a great time playing together.
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The grandkids gave us cute hand made Valentines and we gave them dinner.
Here is the recipes for those who haven't tried making these delicious dishes before:

Sweet pork:
6 lbs. boneless pork roast
1 16 oz. bottle salsa
1 12 oz. can cola
2 c. brown sugar

Cook pork roast in a crock pot (or instapot) all day.  2 hours before serving, drain juices, remove fat, and shred.  Add salsa, cola and brown sugar.  Cook for the remaining 2 hours on low.  This made a lot of meet and after dinner, I divided it into containers and froze it for future meals.  Meat is now all done!

Shredded chicken:
4 lbs. chicken breast
1 small bottle zesty Italian dressing
1 T. minced garlic
2 packages ranch dressing mix
1 T. chili powder
1 T. ground cumin

Place all ingredients in a crock pot.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Shred with fork and serve.

Sweet Rice:
2 T. oil
2 1/4 c. long-grain rice, uncooked
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
juice of 2 limes
4 c. water

In skillet, fry rice in oil.  Add garlic and cilantro, saute 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add lime juice and water.  Bring to a boil, cook on low until rice is done.  I cook mine in the rice cooker or Instapot.

Creamy Cilantro Dressing:

1 package buttermilk ranch dressing mix
3 tomatillos
1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. cilantro, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 t. cayenne pepper (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a blender, blend on high.  Chill. That's it!  It makes a bunch and will keep in a jar in the fridge for a month.  It will separate, so just blend again before serving.

I also had guacamole, piko - tomatoes, cheese, chips, seasoned black beans, sour cream and cilantro on the side.  Delicious!