A Jeanne in the Kitchen

I have finally used up the last of my pork loin. I made it three different ways, all of which were very tasty. This time, I made it with a peachy mustard sauce. It was similar to what is known as a South Carolina mustard BBQ sauce. This meal was pure Southern comfort,with grilled potatoes and grilled corn on the cob.

Peachy Mustard Sauce

I marinated my pork in the sauce for about 4 hours before grilling it. You can use the same sauce for chicken or seafood too, as well as a base for a potato salad (more on that later).

1/2-3/4 cup orange juice, especially if using as a marinade

2/3 cup Dijon mustard

1/3 cup whole grain mustard

1/2 cup peach vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 TBSP hot sauce

salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

Mix everything together well.

Grill the pork and serve it with your favorite side dishes. Enjoy.

Life is short. Make the most out of every minute and live life to the fullest. Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.

It’s funny how I go for long stretches without seeing any Killdeer at all, and then all of a sudden, I see a whole bunch. I am in that phase where I am seeing a whole bunch. I am NOT complaining one bit though. I love seeing them.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay cool. ‘Til next time.

My jewelry classes were suspended for about 6 weeks due to renovations to the school. The school has now reopened for workshops, with the actual classes resuming once again in September. I went back the first day I could and I have been busy making more jewelry once again. With the exception of a few minor tweaks left to do, I just finished another pair of earrings yesterday. The stones I used this time are Sodalite.

A work in progress.

And the finished pair. I learned and used some new techniques for these. I am always learning and working on new ideas and new techniques. My instructors have all commented on how well I am doing and progressing. Not to brag or anything, but these have already received a lot of praise, and a lot of that praise has come from people in the know. 🙂

As soon as I finished, I immediately started on another project. I have so many ideas just waiting to be made. To many projects, to little time. 🙂

Life is short. Live life to the fullest and enjoy the ride. Stay cool along the way too. Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.

Magpies are very prevalent here. I see them all the time, just about everywhere I go. Even though I see them all the time, and I know they are scavengers, I still think they are beautiful birds. I just love their colors. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.

I love crab and I love it cooked and served in all ways. When we went to The Three Sixty Grille 360 with Bruce and Julia in Muscle Shoals, AL, Julia ordered a crab cake sandwich that just looked so good Eating Our Way Through The South – Part 4 – Three Sixty Grille 360. I guess I was still thinking about that when I made my crab burgers. Seeing her delicious sandwich was my inspiration. 🙂

I made Maryland crab cakes Maryland Crab Cakes and served them on toasted buns with a lemon aioli sauce. I served a corn, tomato and green bean salad on the side, along with some waffle cut sweeet potato chips. YUMMY! This is a great way to stay cool on these hot summer days.

Lemon Aioli Sauce

1 cup Miracle Whip or mayonnaise

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 TBSP hot sauce

1-2 TBSP lemon vinegar or lemon juice

Mix everything together well and chill until ready to use.

I grilled the crab cakes and toasted my buns on my inside grill. First I buttered the buns, then put them on the hot grill. You can also use a regular grill or a hot skillet too.

When everything was cooked, I layered it all up with fresh spinach and tomato slices, then enjoyed every bite. 🙂 You will too.

Life is short. Live life to the fullest and enjoy the ride and stay cool. Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.

In case you haven’t noticed, I just love flowers. I love all kinds and all colors. Flowers always brighten my day, and I hope they brighten your day too. Today, I am going to focus on some flowers kissed by the colors of the sun, with splashes of orange, red and yellow.

Have a bright, colorful day. ‘Til next time.

I am still cooking up good recipes using my pork loin. I am also still lookin for ways to cook it without having to turn the oven on as well. This time, I grilled it, which is just perfect, since summer time = grill time. This makes two meals from our pork loin, and I still have enough left over for one more. By medals, I mean dinner for the two of us + at least one lunch portion for Larry to take for his lunches too.

Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin

I just made a simple marinade/sauce using, simple, basic everyday ingredients.

1 1/2 -2 lbs pork loin cut into thick chops – 4 chops

4 pieces bacon

1-2 TBSP spicy honey

1/2 cup olive oil

1 TBSP Dijon mustard

1 tsp lemon zest

2 TBSP lemon vinegar or lemon juice or white wine vinegar

salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 red chili pepper diced fine

1-2 tsp dried rosemary or 1 TBSP fresh, chopped rosemary

1 TBSP lemon verbena,optional

Combine the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, herbs, seasonings, honey and chili pepper together and mix well.

Pat the pork chops dry with a paper towel and wrap a piece of bacon around each chop. Hold together with a toothpick.

Pour about 1/2 of the marinade over the bacon wrapped pork chops and let marinate for at least 2-3 hours before grilling.

When ready to grill, get the grill nice and hot and place the pork chops on the grill. Cook until the pork is done, with nice grill marks on both sides. You want the internal temperature of the pork to be 145*F or 63* C. Once the pork is cooked, allow it to rest for about 3 minutes before serving it.

Before serving, heat up the rest of the marinade and top the pork with it. Serve with your favorite side dishes. I served it over wild rice with asparagus on the side. I used a little of the marinade on my asparagus too, and it really brought the asparagus to life.

The pork was so tender and full of flavor. It was a perfect meal for a hot summer day.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Life is short. Live life to the fullest and enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.

All my ducklings (duck-a-lings) and goslings (gos-a-lings) are growing up so quickly. It seems like not that long ago they were just tiny babies, and here they are almost completely grown now. Soon, they will be out own their own, starting their own families, continuing the cycle of life. But I was able to capture a set of good family portraits before they fly the coup.

The goslings are still small here.

Look at them now. It’s hard to believe these are the same goslings, but they are.

If you look closely, you can still see remnants of their baby fuzz.

The ducklings are all growing up too. Here they are still young and still enjoy swimming with mom.

And here, they are almost as big as mom now.

There is no stopping time. Life is short. Enjoy it as much as much as you can while you can. Make the most out of everyday. Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.

I know I have said many times that we don’t eat out much while at home, and here we go eating out again; the third time in three weeks. So let me rephrase that. We don’t eat out much while at home, when it is just the two of us. We do eat out with friends though. 🙂

Last night we tried a new Thai restaurant (new to us) with Janet and Bob, called Charm Thai Eatery. Janet is posing in front. We all received a coupon in the mail and decided to try it out.

Charm Thai Eatery brings Bangkok to Westminster/Broomfield! From classic Thai dishes to new takes on Bangkok’s famous street cuisine, there’s sure to be countless new favorites for everyone. With more than 20 years of restaurant experience, the Charm culinary team can’t wait to bring you the authentic Thai flavors they grew up with!

Charm Thai Eatery is a small restaurant that offers big flavors, and as you might expect from the name, a lot of ….. charm. We ordered one appetizer and three entrees to share between us.

We started off with the pork gyozas, which were deliciously gone almost as soon as they were delivered.

Then our entrees arrived. It looked like so much food.

We ordered the Pad See Ewe or flat rice noodles sautéed with egg, Chinese broccoli, and sweet soy sauce. We ordered it with beef.

We also ordered a chicken and vegetable dish.

And chicken in a peanut curry sauce.

Everything was delicious and believe it or not, we ate every bite. Usually we bring leftovers home, but not this time. This time, our plates were completely cleaned. Our server was a lot of fun too. She was very sweet and had a good sense of humor. She did put up with the four of us, after all. 🙂 Once again, we had yet another deliciously fun evening with good friends. That is the best way to enjoy life.

Charm Thai Eatery is located at 14648 Delaware Street, Westminster, CO 80023, in the Orchard outside mall. We just walked in with no reservations. You can too.

Life is short. Make the most out of everyday. Have a great day and make everyday great. Life is always best when shared with good friends and good food. It doesn’t get much better than that. ‘Til next time.

European starlings are not native to America. They are an invasive species of bird here. They call lots of places home and are very common. They like it here though, and are quite prolific. I see them all over the place. I actually think they are beautiful birds, with their shimmering multi-colored feathers. They are luminescent, especially when the light shines on their feathers.

You can find beauty in every place, in every situation if you only just allow yourself to see it. Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.