there's an app for that

Appetizer, that is. Sorry, Apple fans. For the Super Bowl, I made sweet and spicy pork empanadas from Rick Bayless's cookbook Salsas That Cook. The pastry was a bit of a challenge to work with (next time I'll be taking the pre-made pie dough route), but it turned out nice and flaky and the filling gets a serious two thumbs up—a nice balance of savory and sweet. You can't lose with Rick by your side.

We also had slow cooked pulled pork for the taco bar. I love recipes that involve five-minute prep but result in maximum tastiness. One thing to note about that recipe is that it's kind of vaguely worded when it comes to what to do with the "divided" spices. I think the poster basically meant that you should distribute the spices equally on both sides of the roast. I just combined the spices into one bowl and sprinkled the mix all over the meat—seemed to work out just fine.

Also, TJ made not one, not two, but THREE different salsas (which you can kind of see in the background of the pork picture, behind the mounds of guacamole and cotija cheese). All delicious in their own way, though I think my favorite was the roasted tomato/jalapeño.

Every Sunday should be Super Bowl Sunday. Except without all the stupid GoDaddy ads and stereotypical dumb guy/overbearing woman commercials.