Valentine's Day 2010

It's time for the [almost] annual Valentine's Day blog entry.  I don't think I've done one since moving to BG, though.

One perspective has not changed in the years that have passed…I truly believe that anyone who finds love to celebrate on Valentine's Day is fortunate.  I also believe that anyone who does not find love to celebrate on Valentine's Day should look around and re-discover love that is there.  This day is not just about "expressing" love, it's about realizing love.  Although I gave up my chance to celebrate romance many years ago, I am still blessed for all of the love in my life.

All of that being said, let's get down to brass tacks.

Thanks to my great friend, Erich, I am able to share the following photo for this year's V.D. edition:

Yes, that is right.  For all the wonderful people in the world that associate their love with White Castle, our friends in Cincinnati are helping to insure that today remains special thanks to their reservation hotline.  Sadly, I'm failing to find an appropriate love/"slider" pun for this image.  While I do appreciate the White Castle reservation concept, it's the phone number that makes me laugh--x10.  Really?  Is this White Castle so enormous that it's management and work force demands multiple extensions for outside callers?  Wow!  A White Castle that grand probably does require reservations.

If there where a White Castle near me, I probably would have visited simply to express my love for the "slider."

I guess that is all for this year's edition.  It's getting close to midnight, so I need to get this posted.

Love and peace to all!

Pork marinade

I recently posted a spectacular marinade for steak (beef) on Facebook.  Well, today I have another combination (not quite a recipe), but this time for pork.  For my cooking adventure, I was using thin-sliced center-cut pork chops cooked in a slow cooker (Crock Pot).  I plan to use again for thicker chops or possibly a roast.  My particular cut of meat and presentation was not photo worthy, but yummy!

Ingredients (other than pork)--roughly in order of content quantity:
Water
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
sweet onion--1 thick slice lightly chopped
minced garlic
dry mustard
black pepper
Tabasco sauce (hint/dash)

I mixed the marinade the night before and refrigerated to allow a good mixture, but I did not marinade the meat in advance because it was still thawing.  Not real sure a marinade is necessary when slow cooking anyway.  I would recommend a 2-6 hour (or overnight) marinade if choosing to bake, fry, broil, or grill the pork.

Quantity: for the slow cooker, I made sure to start with enough water to cover the pork.  From there, add BBQ sauce until appropriately flavorful (probably 1 cup per pound of meat--start with less and work up so as to avoid wasting the sauce). 1-2 slices of onion per pound of meat is fine, more or less to suit your taste.  Garlic--roughly 1 Tbls per pound of meat, or one clove if using fresh; I probably used 1 tsp. in my mixture.  The garlic is a companion in this sauce, not the main event. Dry mustard = 2 tsp per pound.  Black pepper: probably 1 tsp, but I imagine up to 1 Tbls would be fine.  Tabasco: use your judgment--it's giving a little extra "tang" to the BBQ, but your limit for "kick" will determine how much to use.  I'm thinking 1/2 tsp - 1 Tbls per pound.

I served the marinade/sauce over the cooked pork, which is why I left large pieces of onion--yum!