Rosemary Sage Pork Chops & Sage-Braised Tomatoes
When Chris got back from California, I found myself seriously craving meat. After all, for the past week, I’d basically subsisted on eggs and cheese. And vegetarian I am not.
It’s not like Chris or I are huge meat eaters—in fact, we’re in agreement that large chunks of it, like in steaks or, er, roasts or whatever (I don’t even know any of the correct terminology to talk about meat), just don’t taste good. Furthermore, we rarely venture beyond ground turkey or chicken, out of ignorance I guess. I just don’t know how to handle anything else. (I aim to learn though, as a consequence of this blog!)
But, I do eat it more often than not, in slivers or in other bite-sized morsels, and for dinner usually. In fact, and this relates back to the difference between cooking for myself and cooking for my significant other and me, Chris thinks “eggs” and “cheese” are a poor substitute for meat. They’re not as filling. Or satisfying, I suppose. And that’s cool, we’re in accord. We’re totally in accord. We’re lucky how much in accord we are. In matters of taste, that is.
I could never be a vegetarian. Maybe a part-timer though.
These pork chops cook up beautifully. Was it the sage? The rosemary? The wonderfully aromatic flavor of the garlic? They were the only three ingredients after all, although I also attribute the chops’ satisfying (and not dry!) taste to the hot stove and the lid that kept all the moisture in.
And yes, I was totally sated afterward. I forget how much I like pork.
Avert your eyes if you find raw meat unappetizing!
heirloom tomatoes, condensation and all
I decided to cook up some tomatoes as well. I know, it’s blasphemy to apply heat to heirloom tomatoes. But I expect they’ll be in my kitchen pretty much nonstop for the rest of the summer, so I figured I could spare a few to go alongside the meat. (but I’ll be damned if I ever do anything to watermelon other than eat it in freshly-cut slices! I feel very strongly about this.) I’ll attribute this sentiment to Rose Carrarini of Rose Bakery—she seems to have a good eye for preparing vegetables deliciously.
I love the sweetness of cooked tomatoes. I mean, these guys were tender; they melted in my mouth; they accompanied the pork wonderfully.
ROSEMARY SAGE PORK CHOPS
Serves 2
From Big Oven
Ingredients:
2 pork chops, bone-in, about 8 ounces
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Pat dry pork chops and season with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil on medium in a skillet that will contain the pork chops. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the sage, rosemary, and garlic, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the pork chops on top of the garlic mix. Cover and let cook undisturbed for about 5 minutes. Flip chops, re-cover the pan, and reduce heat to medium, for another few minutes, until the chops have cooked through.
SAGE-BRAISED TOMATOES
Serves 2
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
2 medium tomatoes
1 stalk celery
3 cloves garlic, crushed
8 to 10 leaves of sage
1/2 cup water or stock
Directions:
Heat olive oil in medium saucepan and cook onions until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic, tomatoes, and celery and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add water and sage and turn heat to low. Continue cooking until tomatoes are very soft and liquid has been reduced.
M&M; Birthday Party
I put together my son’s 4th birthday party last week. He’s into a lot of things, but nothing in particular stood out as a theme. That is until someone posted a photo of an M&M wedding cake on Facebook. I had my inspiration. My son loves M&M’s in all different varieties. He devours whatever flavored M&M’s I buy to make recipes with. He’s not picky when it comes to his favorite candy. So I researched Pinterest for DIY party decor and kept my eyes open when I was out shopping. I tried to keep it simple because it wasn’t going to be a terribly big party, but I wanted it to be special for him.
I put together my son’s 4th birthday party last week. He’s into a lot of things, but nothing in particular stood out as a theme. That is until someone posted a photo of an M&M wedding cake on Facebook. I had my inspiration. My son loves M&M’s in all different varieties. He devours whatever flavored M&M’s I buy to make recipes with. He’s not picky when it comes to his favorite candy. So I researched Pinterest for DIY party decor and kept my eyes open when I was out shopping. I tried to keep it simple because it wasn’t going to be a terribly big party, but I wanted it to be special for him.
The first thing I had found was 10 inch red plastic M&M dispenser at CVS pharmacy. I used that as my centerpiece. It was too cute to pass up. Then I found a small 5 inch plastic bubble gum machine at Toys R Us that I used as a cake topper.
I wanted the party goers to have a selection of M&M’s to choose from, so I decorated a Archer Farms carton with some card stock I had on hand. I cut out some circles with my Fiskars ShapeCutter Template, then embellished it with little “m’s” I cut out with my Sizzix Sizzlets dies in the Bounce font (which apparently they don’t make anymore, my scrapbook tools are now antiques). I added some circle tags to label the M&M flavors.
I found most of my other supplies at Walmart. I bought plates, napkins, and party hats in all the M&M colors (except brown). I jazzed up the plain party hats with some more cut outs. For these “m’s”, I used my Cricut machine with the Tear Drop cartridge. I was trying to use what I had on hand. If you want the official “M”, you can find it on the Cricut Plantin SchoolBook cartridge.
I used my Cricut machine to cut out these big “m’s” also. This was one of the ideas I found on Pinterest for wall decorations. I used double stick tape to keep them up.
He’s the whole thing all together. Simple, but colorful and fun. It was raining outside, so we played some movies for the kids, but they didn’t care, they ended up going in the pool anyway.
I made all sorts of treats to go with the theme, Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies, M&M Rice Krispie Treats, M&M Pretzel Sticks, and more.
I use the extra “M’s” I cut out to decorate the table. I placed the M&M dispenser on a candlestick holder I had to make him more prominent.
Here are the Candy Coated Oreo M&M’s I blogged about earlier this week. I placed each in matching cupcake liners from Wilton that I had found at Walmart.
This is the cake I made, inspired by this one below. The kids thought it was amazing. Mission accomplished.
Here’s the birthday boy all smiles when he saw his cake. He was excited by all the mini M&M’s pouring down the front. All the kids wanted a slice with the M&M’s on it.
The cake was just two Pillsbury Funfetti cake mixes and two cans of Betty Crocker Fluffy White frosting. I knew I would be spending all my time perfecting the decorating, so I didn’t make the cake and frosting from scratch this time. Plus, I really love Funfetti cake. And if you are wondering if I place each M&M individually on the cake , the answer would be YES! My husband thought I was nuts. He said I should just throw them on there, but I am a type A personality and everything has to be perfect.
For the favor bags, I bought individual packs of Birthday Cake M&M’s and added some bubbles and other candies. The clear bags are from Walmart and the tags I made myself. I put all the kids names on the back. I attached the tags with matching bakers twine I had on hand.
It was a lot of work, but I like being creative. The looks on the kids faces said it all, it was worth it.