Smoky Collards for a Crowd

I saw a blue sky as the sun came up this morning.  We haven't seen one of these in a while.

I have a big surprise for the guys at the shelter tomorrow.  I made them tons of collards, potato salad, baked beans and more cornbread.  I think I could feed them southern food every day.  It is their favorite.

I fried bacon to start the recipe.

The added lots of diced onions, S&P, red pepper flakes and granulated garlic.

I cleaned and cut up 6 bundles of collards, put them in a big pot and added 3 large ham hocks. Then added several bay leaves.

I also added some debrezner sausage because it has such a great smokey flavor. Next, add enough chicken stock to almost cover the greens.

After about 4 hours, I shredded the meat and added it back to the pot then added about 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1 cup of apple cider vinegar.

The bacon can be diced and then sprinkled over the top of the greens.  This made about 15 quarts.

Teddy was happy to see that her "spot" was dry this morning.

She was so happy she decided to take a little nap while she sat there and smelled the bacon cooking!