Tonight's Dinner...Sweet & Sour Pork

I am not the most outstanding cook in the world but I do make some good stuff and people do ask for recipes all the time. So I have decided that now and again I will post a recipe when I make it, if I think it's worth sharing.

Tonight's recipe came about since my 2nd refrigerator/freezer conked out on us with not one but two pork roasts in the freezer. So since they had both defrosted I could not refreeze them. So last night it was Pulled Pork in the crockpot and tonight it was Sweet and Sour Pork. I was considering making a pork roast as part of Christmas Day dinner...uh not anymore. I will have to rethink that one. So here's what was for dinner tonight. Everyone liked it (amazing 'cause they hate when I try new stuff) except Shorty of course. He had Taquitos. For your listening pleasure...one of my favorite Christmas songs...for my favorite guy who always says he likes what I cook. Even if he stands over me now and then to make sure I am doing it right. xo

Sweet & Sour Pork

2lbs boneless pork loin

1/2 c flour

1/4 c cornstarch

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 can (20 oz) pineapple chunks in syrup; drained and syrup reserved

1/2 c packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp soy sauce

2 medium carrots cut into thin diagonal slices

1 garlic clove finely chopped

2 TBL spoons cold water

1 medium bell pepper cut into 3/4 inch pieces

Hot cooked rice

1. Trim excess fat from pork; cut into 3/4 inch pieces

2. Heat 1 inch of oil in deep fryer or dutch oven

3. Beat flour, 1/4 cornstarch, 1/2 cold water, 1/2 tsp salt, and the in egg in a large bowl until smooth. Stir pork into batter until well coated.

4. Add pork pieces on at a time to the oil. Fry 20 pieces at a time for about 5 minutes turning 2-3 times until golden brown. Drain on paper towels; keep warm

5.Add enough water to reserved pineapple syrup to measure 1 cup. heat syrup mixture, brown sugar, vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt, soy sauce, carrots and garlic to boiling in a dutch oven. Then reduce heat to low.

6. Cover and simmer about 6 minutes or until carrots are crisp-tender. Mix 2 TBL spoons cornstarch and 2 TBL spoons cold water; stir into sauce.

7. Add pork, pineapple and pepper. heat to boiling sirring constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute.

Serve with rice.

Prep Time: 25 min
Total Time: 55 min
Makes: 8 servings (about 2 cups each)

Christmas mess...

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly." -- Andy Rooney

I know another quote. I can't resist. But I love that. It takes so long to get ready. Clean up from Thanksgiving. Put away all the pumpkins, turkeys and anything orange. Then clean the house again and set up all the Christmas decorations. Takes me a good week to get the inside done. With this being our third Christmas in this house I think I remember this year where things go. There's something oddly comforting for me to have the same hole in the molding from last year to tack up my garland.

I guess like many people I dream of that perfectly decorated home at Christmas. You know the one with the perfect snow outside that no one had run across. The beautiful greenery around the massive double front doors with each light placed perfectly around them. Inside a 20 foot tree with each branch decorated perfectly with beads, glass ornaments, and lights. Presents underneath with matching ribbons and bows. No SpongeBob wrapping paper here.

Though I may strive for that or at least some of that every year, I probably will never totally achieve it. But I am not sure that deep down I really want to.

I hang many of the school creations from years past. I still have cotton ball Santas that the Diva made in nursery school and she is in 10th grade. There's a Santa made from a paintbrush happily looking at me from my tree as I type this. Tonight Shorty demonstrated his new skill of cutting snowflakes from paper that he learned in art class today. He then proceeded to make a snowstorm that we covered the family room windows with. And I love them. They are not from Fortunoff. They are not expensive or crystal encrusted. But they are one of a kind. And they were made with love. They probably won't appear on the cover of some snooty catalogue. But, they will appear again next year when I open the Christmas storage tub containing kids' creations.

So this year as they open their gifts on Christmas morning I won't run for the big black garbage bag right away. I will just sit in their glorious mess and admire the snowstorm taped to my windows.