Cooking at Home - Pineapple Pulled Pork

Photo by Patrick Jones. Pulled Pork, 10 Mar 2021.

We've been blessed with incredible early Spring weather for the past few days. Yesterday I tried a variation on my pulled pork recipe for my first pulled pork of 2021. We had King's Hawaiian Rolls instead of home-pressed blue corn tortillas for yesterday's version, along with a fresh-cut pineapple from our weekly farm box delivery.

I started with a 4.6 pound pork shoulder that I picked up from our local butcher on Tuesday. I used Traeger's pork and poultry rub along with brown sugar and put the rub on Tuesday afternoon. I started the grill at 8am yesterday and set it to 250. The pork cooked for five hours, and then I put it into a foil pan. In place of apple cider, I used 1/3 cup fresh squeezed pineapple juice from the pineapple and about 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar. I covered the pork with foil and let it cook for an additional 3.5 hours. The meat was ready to come off the grill by 6pm.

As sides we had a red cabbage and date slaw, pickles and grilled pineapple. Our vegetarian had roasted tofu squares that had been cooked with 33rd & Galena seasoning and roasted in the oven for 45 minutes at 425 (flipped half way through cooking). We also had the last of some homemade Carolina Gold BBQ sauce and some of our local Pork Barrel BBQ sauce.

This recipe was a hit and we'll be making it again during the Spring and Summer.

The Fieldhouse

 

Indiana Historical Society. Formerly Conseco Fieldhouse, 1999.

Tonight the games begin for the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse (formerly known as Conseco Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis. The arena opened in 1999 as the home of the Indiana Pacers, replacing Market Square Arena. I went to many games and concerts at the venue when we were living in Indy, and it remains on the best basketball arenas in the country.

The Fieldhouse will also host early round games for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament next week.

Assembly Hall

 

IU Digital Archives. Assembly Hall, 1997.

Unless they have a miracle run in the Big Ten Basketball Tournament, Indiana University's Men's basketball team will be sitting at home for the NCAA Tournament. This is particularly sad as IU will be hosting First Four games at Assembly Hall. The arena opened in 1971, and went through a renovation in 2016.

As many times as I've watched IU basketball games on TV, I haven't managed to see a game there. We did see an epic concert by Muse, the Foo Fighters and the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Assembly Hall in April 2000.

IU's Women's Basketball team is currently #10 in the country, 2nd in the Big Ten, and poised to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament in San Antonio, Texas. I'll be cheering on the Hoosiers in the Tournament.

Mackey Arena

 

Source: Purdue E-Archives. Mackey Arena.

This afternoon Purdue hosts Indiana at Mackey Arena for a critical game in the annual rivalry between the two state schools. Indiana (12-13) needs a win today and a run in the Big Ten Tournament to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for the fifth-straight year. Mackey Arena will also host First Four games along with IU's Assembly Hall for the opening of the Men's Basketball Tournament on Thursday 18 March 2021.

At the Coliseum

 

Indiana Historical Society. 1944 Indiana HS Semi-State.

One of the venues this year for March Madness is Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis (previously the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum, among other names). The Coliseum opened in 1939, and was home to the ABA Indiana Pacers between 1967-1974. Over the years, thousands of events and concerts have also been at the historic arena. I remember seeing the X-103 Christmas Concert with Bush in 1999 when the venue was known as the Pepsi Coliseum.

Next week, the venue is hosting the semi-finals and championship games for the Horizon League Men's and Women's Tournaments before serving as a site for the Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.