Cocoa Spice Rubbed Roast Pork

O.M.G!!! That was the best thing I've ever made...ever. And I'm a good cooker!!!!
While I fried up two onions in a pan with evoo, S&P and sage, I mixed the dry rub of dark cocoa (Epicure sells an amazing variety), cinnamon, coriander, white pepper, sea salt, nutmeg and cloves. I then rubbed it all over the boneless rib roast, and seared it in a hot oven (425F). When the onions started to brown, I added a cup and a half of water, and let it all cook down till the water was gone. I then threw that on top of the roast, and threw it all in my slow-cooker. That was just before 11 pm (I like to start things late), so I put the cooker on low and went to bed. It stewed all night long (smelled VERY good in here this morning) and on into this morning - yes, I carried (in a cloth bag) my crock pot and pork roast to work - finally shutting it off just before the potluck started at 11:30. We then shredded the pork with two forks - could have used toothpicks, it was so tender - and mixed the onions and juices together. Meanwhile, I ran across the street from work to the little corner store, where they had the perfect size dinner buns to eat the pork on. The crock pot was licked clean!!! I wasn't sure how it would go over, but everyone raved!!! I will definitely make this again, but may add either broth or wine (or both) to make it a little more saucy.
So what else was on the menu for a "Choc-luck"?? One group brought a whole schwack of samosas (not exactly chocolate or Asian - we were celebrating Valentine's and Chinese New Year) which were really good. Make at a local shop, and by the sounds of it, rather cheap. Think I'll have my coworker pick me up a box the next time she swings by there. Some of our Asian ladies brought treats from home, in the form of dumplings (man, these were GOOD!) and some traditional egg dish that had the preserved duck egg in it (thought the pieces were vegetables...hmmm...). It was interesting (I'm usually pretty willing to try new things) - not sure if I could eat a whole bunch of it, but it was interesting. Round out the savory side with some Ginger Beef (a Calgary/Asian specialty) and raw veggies, and we move on to the sweet side of Choc-luck. Homemade "Skorr" bars (I really needed someone to take them away from me!), brownies, chocolate cake, cupcakes, fudge and the best part??? Fresh fruit complete with a chocolate fountain!! Yes, we had a chocolate fountain at our potluck - we know how to rock out a potluck! Loads of delicious fresh fruit, pound cake, cookies and squares to dip into the fountain. Good news is I took my camera to work...bad news is, it sat in my purse the whole time! Oy... Funny...you could hear the hum of hyperactive people through-out the department all afternoon. But man, I started to crash bad about 2 pm. And I was bloated and full and uncomfortable, and I thought...'how the heck am I going to survive Boot Camp??'.
I got home, changed and forced myself to get to Boot Camp, where we (all FOUR of us -sheesh...it's the middle of February...have all the resolutioners out there bailed already?!) ran the Barf Trail...at least that's what we call it! We pick up our weights and we run...and whenever Trainer Josh stops, we stop and do fun stuff like push-ups combined with sprints, extensions, lunges with curls, etc, all broken up with more running. All told, the trail is just under 2 km, and combined with all the extra work (and running with 16 pounds of weights in my hands), I was puffing pretty good by the end. Then we got down with our bad band selves!! Did a ton of band work (lats, rows, more extension, curls, etc) and to finish the hour off (or us...not sure which) we switched it up to core, with tons of abs. I will feel this tomorrow, but again, it's a pain I like.
After a quick visit with the parents (daughterly duties involved) I came home, had some cottage cheese, and then a small bowl of whole wheat pasta with sun-dried tomato pesto. Feel much better than I did this afternoon, and I am thinking it's going to be a successful weigh-in tomorrow.
After a quick coffee and catch-up with H-woman (it's been ages), I'm home and ready for sleeping. I have recorded the Opening Ceremonies (oh, so sad for the Georgian Luger), so will watch that tomorrow, as I knew I was going to miss the beginning tonight. I heart PVR's.
Go Canada Go!