Red and Blue Party {Happy birthday E!}

Here is part 2 of the extensive birthday weekend lineup: The Red and Blue Party. Part one was the ever so awesome surprise! I have been planning the Red and Blue party for some time now. E new about it, he just didn't know that Ben and Jo would be in town as well.

Weeks before E started thinking about the menu. I wanted to keep it simple and cook burgers, but he wanted to do a long smoke, on some large piece of meat. I wasn't so keen on the idea, he hadn't had much experience smoking before but once he decided that he needed a new smoker for this birthday the decision was made: pulled pork it was.

The idea with pulled pork is that you cook it for so long, as such a low even temperature, that when it is done the pork just falls apart its so tender. Once it is easily shredded it is awesome on a bun with a little BBQ sauce. The pork has a smoky yummy summery flavor.

So E decided that to host a large party we needed a lot of meat. And to get a lot of meat cooked until it is falling apart takes hours. So he started the night before. We put the meat on around 9:00pm on Thursday and were delighted to see the smoker was holding steady come morning. A few more hours to finish it off, and the 16 hour smoke was done. And the meat was perfect.

It shrunk a lot during cooking! And the dark crust? It is a must. Adds an amazing smoky flavor once shredded.
We flew in helpers from all the way across the country. I love that you can see James's happy face over Ben's shoulder.
Good thing Ben and Jo were around to help us pull the pork, there was a lot of it, and we wanted to have it all prepped before party time.

In addition to a lot of catching up and just hanging out, Ben and Jo also really wanted to go back to the University of Utah campus to reminisce (this is where they fell in love, after all). James was happy to go on a adventure and E and I were just grinning from ear to ear that our best friends were actually here, in Utah, with us.

As evening rolled around, we put James to bed and got ready to party.

Everyone arrived at 7:30 and everybody was super excited and surprised to see Ben and Jo. I had told very few people about it, and E's family was over the moon to see them. Connie started crying and David started swearing. ;) Everyone was thrilled.

After a lot of chatting, catching up, and eating appetizers, the main event was served. The pork. We had TONS! Good thing too, because we had a lot of hungry friends. Everyone devoured the pork, laughed, talked and reminisced as the night wore on.

At around 9:00pm when all the lights around the yard gleamed brightly we decided to sing Happy Birthday to E and slice the amazing tower of a chocolate cake.

Many more drinks were passes, more jokes shared, and around 11:00 we called it a night. It was amazing and just what we wanted.
The star of the show.
So glad Jo had her camera on hand. Finally, some shots with me in them.
Lots of friends family and food. And a summer evening. Makings for the perfect party.

Happy birthday my love.
Dusk falls.
The entire party, minus Jo who was taking the picture.