Playing Catch-Up

All last week I kept thinking, “Well, I should probably write a blog post.” But then I never did. Which is why I’m sitting here on a Sunday afternoon and feeling like I have way too much bloggy ground to cover.

So I think I’ll make a list instead.

Yay, lists!

1) First things first. I got some new pens.

I’m so excited about the pens. I can’t even tell you. They have a structured felt tip, and I’m pretty sure that my life will never, ever be the same. I don’t want to speak too soon, of course, because I know that these things take time, but it’s possible that these pens may even replace my twenty-year obsession with the Sharpie.

2) This past Wednesday morning I was thinking and praying through some stuff, and a song that we used to sing in choir popped in my head. I looked it up on YouTube, and oh my goodness – I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve listened to it in the last few days. WHAT A WORD.

3) The Compassion Bloggers are headed to Peru this week.

You can follow their posts over on the Compassion Bloggers site – and you can follow them on Twitter, too. I can’t wait to read all about it!

4) When we bought this house, it came with an old JennAir cooktop that we vowed and declared to hold on to until it quit working (I am really weird about replacing stuff that still works). The cooktop was the 70s live and in person, with two burners on one side and a grill (complete with fake charcoal) on the other. I only used the grill side once or twice over the last six years, so for better or worse, I have mostly cooked with two burners ever since we’ve lived here. It wasn’t even that big of an adjustment; we just made it work.

But then the big burner decided that it was no longer interested in participating in the cooking fun. Which means I was basically left with the cooktop equivalent of a hotplate.

My new cooktop came in Saturday morning, and after a little research, D decided that he could install it himself. I didn’t bat an eye, mainly because he is detail-oriented and methodical and patient and basically my opposite when it comes to assembling or installing things. He worked all day Saturday, but by last night, I had me a fancy new cooktop. WITH FOUR BURNERS, EVEN.

And this afternoon I made an inaugural pot of taco soup.

Please note that I have not yet finished painting the kitchen cabinets that I started painting way back in the summer. I won’t even bother making my list of excuses. Just know that I’ll definitely finish in the next two weeks because we are hosting Thanksgiving at our house. Nothing like a holiday to put a little fire under your decorative feet.

5) Around 9 o’clock this past Friday night I realized that I was bored. I haven’t felt bored in a really long time, mainly because, well, WRITING A BOOK. But now that the book is finished and I don’t have to think about revisions or edits or anything like that anymore, there’s a little bit more free time around here. Anyway, D fell asleep in his chair pretty early, and the little guy was asleep, and I was absolutely confounded about what to do with my time.

Oh, I know that I could’ve finished painting those kitchen cabinets, but that would’ve been far too productive.

Anyway, I decided to look through some of our DVDs and see if there was anything I wanted to watch. I elected to watch Notting Hill, which is still every bit as good as it was in the late 90s, and then I watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, which was very entertaining even though I am ancient and fell asleep in the middle of it and had to finish watching it early Saturday morning.

Way to rock it, Mamaw.

6) Speaking of Saturday morning, I had an epiphany about my pillow usage when I was making up our bed.

The epiphany was that my pillow usage is completely out of control.

Seriously. Most of those aren’t even stunt pillows. They’re sleeping pillows. And apparently we like A LOT of sleeping pillow options.

7) I spent some time yesterday trying to plan our Thanksgiving menu. I don’t normally cook a turkey, so I found a Bobby Flay recipe for pork loin that looks really good. The more I think about it, though, the more I wonder if it really goes with our traditional Thanksgiving sides. So – do any of you have a really good recipe for pork loin or pork tenderloin that you’d be willing to share? Thanks in advance for your help.

Have a great week, y’all!

Share:
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • email

Comments

  1. This is my go-to pork loin recipe for company or for when I want to fix something a little nicer for my family-but it is so easy. And the cranberries give it a holiday feel.
    http://allrecipes.com/recipe/quick-savory-cranberry-glazed-pork-loin-roast/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=pork%20with%20cranberry&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

  2. I will double the cranberry pork roast (I’ve used this one: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Cranberry-Pork-Roast) it goes so well with mashed potatoes and other sides, you just can’t go wrong!

  3. We have 8 pillows on our bed and none are stunt pillows. Those are locked in the cedar chest after we got our precious Suzy (who does not allow us to have nice things because-drool, chewing, etc.). We sleep with 8 pillows! What is wrong with us? Do we need a pillow intervention? There’s a hotel in New York that has a pillow menu and we look forward to the day we can go back there. Clearly, we love us some pillows.

  4. Donna Dear says:

    We have a turkey and a bone-in pork roast on Thanksgiving. When we do our pork roast, we use to put on our grill rotisserie,but now with the Big Green Egg we grill and smoke it. We just use a basic seasoning of Lawrys and Motreal steak seasoning, but here is what makes it yummy – Maurice’s mustard BBQ sauce. Sometimes you can find it in some stores but usually you have to purchase it online. Hubby will baste with it and then serve it as a sauce.

  5. I can’t believe Thanksgiving is than 2 weeks away!!! I started my lists today and MAN, do I have a lot to do. I make this pork tenderloin from Paula Deen often. As a matter of fact, I made it last week. My family loves it every time! http://www.pauladeenmagazine.com/recipe_results.php?id=2160 I also serve it with horseradish cream sauce, but my recipe for that varies slightly (1/2 c. sour cream, 1/2 c. mayo, 1 T. of lemon juice, 3/4 c. grated parmesan, salt and pepper. Stir together). Enjoy!

  6. My pork recipe is sounds very simple but it is delicious. You put a whole pork loin in a slow cooker or electric roaster. Sprinkle one envelope of Lipton onion soup mix on top of pork. Cover with Montreal steak seasoning. I put a good amount of seasoning on mine. Add about 1/4 inch of water in the bottom of the pan. Cook for 8 hours at 325 in the roaster or on high in the crock pot or until pork is very tender. Allow to rest before slicing.

  7. My mama recently purchased about five Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir DVD’s. When my granddaughter, Nora, goes to Mimi’s house the first thing she says is “I wanna see ‘Raise Hands, Clap Hands’!” That’s what she calls the BTC! So cute. And that’s what she does, raise hands, clap hands.

    I love all the pork recipes being shared here. I’ll have to try some of them.

  8. I love that song!!! I have it on a CD by Joe Pace & the Colorado Mass Choir (which also has a bunch of other really great songs, if you’re in the market for a little more gospel music).

    I also recommend the crock pot for a pork tenderloin Thanksgiving option — it frees up your oven for other things. I make it with onion soup mix, red wine, soy sauce, garlic and pepper. You don’t even need the actual recipe — just throw that stuff together in proportions that suit your taste. We’re having that for Christmas at my house!

  9. We have nine pillows on our bed and none are stunt pillows. We have to have a king size bed just to have room for all! When traveling we have trouble sleeping without all the pillows!

  10. This is my tried and true go-to pork loin recipe that I use. It always comes out perfect and never disappoints. Everyone that’s tried it loves it. And it’s easy to make.

    http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/herb-crusted-pork-tenderloin-recipe/index.html

  11. I make Paula Deen’s pork tenderloin recipe with an herb rub. I make one with oregano and the other with rosemary and skip the garlic. It is great with cranberry sauce or even Jezebel sauce.

  12. The first time I read the post about the stunt pillows, I laughed until I cried. As Brittney Spears would say, Oops, I did it again…

  13. The best pork loin I have ever made- it’s our families favorite meal and it’s easy!!
    http://www.candcmarriagefactory.com/2011/01/brown-sugar-and-balsamic-glazed-pork.html

  14. Not to be a renegade, but my comment is not a recipe. I was just wondering if anyone can imagine how in the world those people are STILL SEATED while the choir is singing “Hallelujah Anyhow?” I was standing up in my kitchen for crying out loud!

    Just sayin.

  15. You are so funny! And I have about four pillow of my own. My husband is lucky if there’s one pillow left for him by the time he comes to bed. ;-)

  16. This just happened to be on Food Network today (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/honey-mustard-pork-roast-with-bacon-recipe/index.html) Can’t go wrong with pork wrapped in more pork, right?

    I also really like pork tenderloin in the crockpot with a little apple cider, chopped onion, cranberry sauce, and rosemary.

  17. Not sure if you have ever seen these, but they are the BIC Cristal for Her Pen. And the comments underneath are GOLDEN. Seriously, you may just wet yourself.
    http://www.amazon.com/BIC-Cristal-1-0mm-Black-MSLP16-Blk/dp/B004F9QBE6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352761087&sr=8-1&keywords=bic+ladies+pen

    • ok – I had to look at those pens…the pictures associated with the product are also very entertaining. But the comments… hysterical!
      Thanks for that!

  18. My recipe is so old that I guess allrecipes.com has retired it! This is a favorite in my family.

    Rosemary Roasted Pork Tenderloin

    1/2 c. apple juice
    1/4 c. dijon mustard
    1/4 c. chopped fresh rosemary
    8 cloves minced garlic
    3/4 tsp. coarse ground pepper
    3lb. pork tenderloin

    1. In a bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Set aside 1/3 cup; cover and refrigerate. In a large ziploc, combine the pork and remaining marinade. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate overnight.

    2. Drain and discard marinade from meat. Place meat in a roasting pan and pour reserve marinade on top. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160F. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

  19. I make a stuffed pork loin that you top with homemade applesauce. It is really delicious and super easy. You just need to trim the excess fat off your pork roast and then cut it so it will lay flat. We are going to jelly roll it. You want the meat about an inch or two thick. Buy a box of pork stuffing mix and add water to the mix. Spread the stuffing over the roast. I forgot to tell you to salt and pepper your roast. Do that before you spread the stuffing. Next roll it up like a jelly roll and tie it with kitchen twine. Put it in the oven on 350. The cooking time depends on the size of your roast but don’t overcook it. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the rolling of it requires it to cook longer. I use a meat themometer to make sure I don’t over cook. While your roast is cooking chop us some apples in the food processor. Add a little sugar and cinnamon plus a little butter and let them cook away. I really can not even tell you how good this is with the stuffing and the apple sauce over the top. And when you slice that roast and everyone gets this beautiful swirly masterpiece. Well, I bet they will do the dishes for you! Happy Thanksgiving!

  20. Jeannette says:

    Have you ever heard of the show “The Chew”? they have the best ideas. and super easy and great tasting. they have done T-day food all month this month.
    and when I do have a “bored” moment…………..I go take a luxury bath. bath salts, lotions the whole works.

  21. Please tell me you put hominy in your taco soup.