Pork Loin with Vinaigrette on Romaine

This is a variation on a tasty recipe I found last week in the Indianapolis Star. To my delight, pork loin was also on sale last week, so the creation of this dish was inevitable. There's really no amusing anecdote to accompany this meal, so here it is, plain and simple:

• 1 1/4 pounds pork tenderloin, sliced 1/4" to 1/2" thick (most grocery stores slice it for free)
• 1-2 small shallots, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• pinch of salt
• pinch of black pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil, depending on preference
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 head Romaine lettuce
• crumbled plain feta cheese (you decide how much!)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  
• 2-3 pears, sliced (use your favorite variety)
  

1. Preheat grill to medium. Cook tenderloin for approxiamately 20 to 25 minutes, turning periodically, until cooked to 160 degrees internally. (If using a George Foreman grill, preheat for 10 minutes, cook for a few minutes on each side.) Remove from the grill and let rest for 5-10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, saute minced shallots and garlic in the olive oil for a few minutes. Add lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, pepper, and salt. Whisk until combined. You will want to whisk this dressing again right before serving, as this combination tends to separate naturally.
   
3. Wash, drain, and tear up lettuce while the meat rests.
4. Toss lettuce, feta cheese, and almonds. Top with the sliced and grilled pork loin and vinaigrette. (The vinaigrette can be served on the side, as suggested, or mixed in with the salad.) Serve with the sliced pears. This meal can also be complimented by a semi-dry white wine, such as Tabor Hill. Bon appétit!
   

Mon Petit Jardin

When we got married and moved into our first apartment, I was so anxious and excited to start my own plants, to create mon petit jardin. I have had opportunities in the past to grow things, but this was the first time that I would be fully responsible for my little plants; mother is not here to water or weed when I forget.
I started simply:

• pots and dirt from my mother
• free packet of wildflower seeds from a Burt's Bees promotion
• morning glory seeds from our wedding favors
• tin buckets from our wedding decorations
• my garden "catuary"/"gnome" Stella; if I can't have a real cat now, I at least have my garden cat statue named Stella
  

After I gathered my materials, I donned my trusty, all-purpose, gardening gloves (which have been used for anything and everything except gardening thus far), and set to work making a dirt-y mess on our apartment balcony. My husband wisely left me to my devices, to make my own organic endeavors while he did some intelligent computer thing. After one cycle of my favorite country music mix, the seeds had been planted, the trellis was set and ready for little glory vines to climb, and Stella was proudly perched next to the mysterious wildflowers and the fragrant basil, watching over my little plantlings.

The morning glories were the first to sprout, quickly shedding their seed shells and are now climbing and winding vigorously all over the trellis, the balcony railing, and sometimes the other plants. We have yet to see them bloom, but I still have hope. The wildflowers are still a mystery...my husband says they look like weeds, and as they still have no blooms and I have no wildflower knowledge, I reluctantly allow that comment. The basil and sage that I have now added are healthy and fragrant; I use them often in my cooking, which is wonderful! (I also recently read an article that mentions basil's wonderful stress-relieving characteristics...no wonder I love to cook with it!) Also, a friend gave me some mint from her flourishing garden variety, which nicely perfumes our balcony and flavors my tea.

My favorite part of the "garden" right now is my tomato corner. I have two tomato plants growing, one USDA organic-certified and the other commercially grown. Secretly, I want to find out which plant fares better and make my organic vs. non-organic argument to my husband then. Granted, I gave the organic plant an unfair advantage with a bigger pot and more dirt, so I guess I've already thrown the results. Anywho, both plants are doing fairly well, although our Indiana weather has failed us a bit for the tomatoes...word on the street is that tomatoes need the constant hot, humid weather that our fine state usually provides. On the organic plant, I currently have two actual tomatoes growing, and eight or more yellow buds holding the promise of more tomatoes! I am ridiculously excited each time I see growth on any of my plants!

While I cannot fairly say that I have grown a green thumb, I believe I am on my way. With the space, resources, and experience I have, I'd say I have achieved relative success. I had hoped for a larger variety of herbs to grown, but for now, I am content to wait with anticipation as mon petit potager du tomate et basilic grows into something that can deliciously adorn a toasty turkey sandwich.


Update: the morning glories bloomed!:

Becoming a REAL scrapper...

Sometimes I give myself too much credit...

Those who scrapbook spend lots of time thinking out their projects. They plan out each page carefully and creatively, utilizing souvenirs, pamphlets, precious few photographs, treasured items and so on, to create these sometimes beautiful, sometimes gaudy, but always interesting crafts through which they can look back on, remembering special times, people, places, and events. These are true "scrappers."

Thinking myself crafty, my former use of the term "scrapbooking" was to describe my display of photos from various events in an attempt to catalog my life. Translation? I buy photo albums, stick the pictures in chronological order (mostly), and write a minimal description of the photo in the provided space beside it. This is not real scrapbooking. Actual scrapbooking requires at least the above-mentioned work and predetermination of layout. And to think I dared to call myself a scrapbooker.

So, in an attempt to conserve funds and resources, and due to the creative birthday gift from a dear friend, I decided to venture cautiously into the real world of scrapbooking. Now, I didn't do any actual research or talk to any antiquated women from Minnesota who could be considered natural scrappers (anyone seen the movie New in Town?), but I have seen many examples of more detailed scrapping than my false attempts. Over the course of a weekend, I mauled our living and dining areas with the pages, mementos, stickers, and pictures for the scrapbook. I arranged, pondered, cut, pasted, re-pasted, and sent my husband on more than one trip to get more double-sided tape. At the end of it all, my back hurt, my vision was a bit blurry, and the apartment was a mess (which freaked me out because we were having guests for dinner soon), but the first real scrapbook was finished. And it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Will I do it again? Maybe for our first child...