Pork Chops with Bacon and Cabbage

Ryan got me a subscription to Everyday Food for Christmas last year, which I have loved. This recipe was in there, and we really thought it was really tasty. It's one of those recipes that actually looks like the picture when you make it yourself at home, so I felt really fancy. And I have been trying to venture a little out of the ordinary chicken dinners.

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 bone-in pork chops (1-inch thick)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 strips bacon, coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 head green cabbage (about 2 1/2 pounds), cored and cut into 8 wedges
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk

1) Preheat oven to 400. Set a large roasting pan across 2 burners over high heat;add oil and heat. Season pork with salt and pepper; brown on one side, 3 to 5 mins. Flip and cook 1 min more. Transfer to plate.

2) Reduce heat to med. Add bacon; cook until golden, about 5 mins. Add onion; cook until softened, 5 mins. Add cabbage, cut side down and cook till light golden, about 6 mins. Flip and cook until slightly tender,about 3 mins.

3) Add flour and stir till coated. Add milk and cook, stirring constantly till thickened, about 4 mins. Season with salt and pepper, then nestle chops in sauce.

Transfer pan to oven . Bake until pork is cooked through, about 10 mins.

Microwave Carmel Popcorn

Our friends made this for us last time we were with them and we just kept munching away! Seemed to be a lot easier than the traditional making of carmel popcorn-keep in mind this is not the gooey version...

Microwave Caramelcorn

1 cup light brown sugar
1 cube butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 batch freshly popped popcorn (unsalted)

Put popcorn in large microwave-able bowl. Combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt in a medium microwave-able bowl. Microwave on high 1 minute 30 seconds. Add baking soda. Stir. Cook for another 1:30, stir. Pour caramel over popcorn, stir lightly. Place large bowl with caramel and popcorn in microwave. Cook for another 1:30, stir. Cook for one last 1:30, stir and let cool.

Chocolate Chip, Oats n Caramel Cookie Squares

My latest cravings have revolved heavily around these bars. yum.

1 roll (16.5 oz) refrigerated chocolate chip cookies (I made a batch of choc chip cookies from scratch - just using the back of the bag of chips as the recipe)

1 cup quick-cooking oats

Dash salt, if desired

2/3 cup caramel topping

5 Tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 bag (16 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, break up the cookie dough. Stir or knead in oats and salt. Reserve 1/2 cup dough mixture for topping. In ungreased 9 inch square pan, press remaining dough mixture evenly in bottom to form crust. (If you made a batch from scratch, you might not want to use the whole batch - or maybe use a bigger pan so they are not too thick).

2. Bake 10-12 minutes or until dough puffs and appears dry.

3. In small bowl, mix caramel topping, flour, and vanilla until well blended. Sprinkle walnuts and chocolate chips evenly over crust. Drizzle evenly with caramel mixture. Crumble reserved 1/2 cup dough mixture over caramel.

4. Bake 20 - 25 minutes longer or until golden brown. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen bars. Cool completely, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Store tightly covered.

Cheese Fondue

2 Cups Milk
2 Cups heavy whipping cream
3 Cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teason garlic powder

Heat milk, whipping cream, and cheese on medium heat until cheese is all melted. You may have to raise the heat a little, but be careful, do not allow it to boil!

Add worcestershire sauce, salt, and garlic powder.

In another pan make a rue using 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup flour. (First melt the butter, then add the flour and stir constantly over med-high heat until it is smooth and bubbly. This will be the thickener.)

Add the rue to the milk/cheese mixture and stir over med heat . Fondue will thicken.

It tastes best with delicious french bread.

Recipe makes kind of a lot of fondue. I usually half this recipe when I am cooking for around 4 people.

Time to share...

So while I was living with Marissa this summer, we got to share lots of fun recipes together. We planned on copying each others recipes down, but never got around to it. We thought it might be a fun idea to have a family recipe blog so that everyone can share their recipes, without having to call and copy down the recipe, risk losing it, call again, etc, etc. So I have added all your e-mail addresses on so that you can post too! Hopefully we can share some fun recipes, and make it a little easier to share. Of course this will all be more fun if everyone shares, so don't keep all the treasures to yourself. And if there is a recipe someone has that you want, just have them post it on here so you can look it up when you need it! Make sure that with each post you label what category the recipe falls under (main dish, dessert, etc) as well as any other defining quality, (cookies, chocolate, chicken, etc.) that way anyone can just look up a recipe based on the category. Let the cooking begin!