Apricot Preserves Pork Marinade and Summer Vegetables Salad

Pork tenderloin, how I love you.  You're quick, easy, go with a variety of sauces, and always come out perfect.

Really. I love me some pork.  Normally I just throw my standard soy sauce marinade on it but I was in the mood for something a little lighter, more summery and citrus so I went with a gingered apricot version instead.  Also, I was feeling especially lazy so was all about the easy. (Recipes after the break)

Slow smoked pork picnic

So my husband has been working on this cooking method for a while. When in the South, smoke meat!

Sweet & Spicy ribs... Where did they go?

This is my follow up on the sweet and spicy marinade. This is the preferred sauce for ribs or pork in my house. Now Bella has her way of cooking ribs, and this is my way.

Sweet and Spicy Marinade Part II: Fall Off the Bone Spareribs

Jo and I got talking about marinades the other day after her post.  My usual marinade is different (I'll get around to posting it one of these days) and after comparing she got me in the mood for some ribs.  BabyBella and I absolutely love, love ribs.  However, to make them truly fall-off-the-bone that takes time and preplanning (two things I'm horrible at finding and doing).  But, the stars aligned and for once I did both.  Yesterday I swung by the meat department and picked up 1 3/4 lbs of spareribs--I know that's too much for the both of us but I'm planning on having them for lunch during the week--and checked my work calendar and voila! had the time to step away from my desk for a few minutes in the middle of the day.  Happy.

Autumn Stuffed Pork Loin

This is one of my very own recipes.  Oh, I'm guessing there are plenty of recipes out there that are similar, but this one was born out of an especially nostalgic afternoon's shopping.  You see, I was raised in Upstate NY in the Hudson Valley where Autumn was my favorite season.  By mid-October everything turns a thousand shades of red and gold with amazingly crisp mornings that smell like a combination of apple cider and that utterly undefinable but unmistakable aroma of fallen leaves that is more like touch than scent. Being in the foothills of the mountains during that season is one of the most glorious experiences you could imagine.

West Bank of the Hudson River (Image courtesy The Poughkeepsie Journal)

However, when I moved south I discovered that there really isn't a such thing as Autumn.  We go pretty much from summer to winter with a brief two or three weeks where everything turns brown and drops.  And it rains. A lot. Blech.

So here I was one rainy afternoon in October being incredibly homesick for a season while grocery shopping and had the inspiration to make something decidedly "fall-like" so I grabbed cranberries, apples, and cider and went from there.  If I couldn't have golden trees and smoky leaf-scented air then I would taste it.  (Recipe after the break)