Unsolicited Kitchen Advice

Should you find yourself one fine May in possession of three bags of very elderly apples that have been in storage since the fall and are therefore waaaay past their peak flavor . . . make applesauce and add some rhubarb to the apples. It won't taste like really great applesauce made in October from really great apples, but it'll be better than storebought. Not that that's much of a standard.

Next . . .

If you, like me, have never experienced the joy of carnitas, go get yourself some pork butt and make some. Just chunk up the pork, add whatever spices you want (last night I actually used apple cider vinegar, garlic powder, and caraway seeds to make, uh, German carnitas, I guess), barely cover with water, simmer until tender, uncover and cook until all the water is gone and then the meat fries in its own fat.

This does not sound all that appetizing. It is. It is also incredibly easy because there's no annoyingly spatter-y browning of the meat first or gross wet boiled fat on the meat at the end.

I don't know how I lived for ten years in Arizona without having any idea what carnitas are (is? weird one), but I don't want you to be similarly deprived.

That's all. Carry on.