Eating and Sleeping.

My husband and I are home again after spending a weekend visiting his family out in the Vegas area. The occasion was his Grandmother's 85th birthday and we spent our extended weekend doing a whole lot of eating and a whole lot of sleeping in. It was glorious. I had pancakes for breakfast 3 out of 4 days, went on a chocolate factory tour and we went out to the Hoover Dam and took the Dam tour. Our last night in town we went out for a fabulous steak dinner.

I got to the point I felt like eating the rest of the week seemed out of the question. Brown sugar banana pancakes will do that to you.



I can't not eat, so back on to lighter fare we go.

I have been buying meat at Costco more and more lately, and I have small pork roasts in the freezer. I really like pork myself, but I hate when it is over cooked and dry. With how lean pork is, it isn't hard to do.

By the time I got the small roast defrosted yesterday, brining was unfortunately out of the question, just not enough time to let the roast soak.

I dug around online looking for a marinade that sounded good and seemed like it would give some flavor in a couple of hours time. I found a recipe on Epicurious that I used for inspiration. The recipe called for rosemary, which I have a ton of out in my little herb garden.

The roast was good, stayed tender and juicy, and is helping to make up for the eating I did over the weekend. And speaking of brining, Thanksgiving is next week, and I am doing a little trial run of a brine on a chicken in the fridge right now. My family has been brining turkey for quite a few years now, and I love tinkering with the flavors. I can't wait to share this brine and the brine we ultimately use, brining is so good for turkey.

Mustard Rosemary Pork Roast


Loosely adapted from Epicurious


1/2 cup Dijon mustard
6 tablespoons agave syrup
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 2-pound boneless pork loin roast


Combine the mustard, agave, rosemary and garlic in medium sized bowl. Generously season the roast with salt and pepper, then place in bowl, turning over in marinade and allow to sit for at least 1 hour and up to overnight, turning occasionally.

When ready to roast, preheat oven to 375°F and remove roast from marinade, placing in pan on a roasting rack. Roast until thermometer inserted into center registers 150°F. Let rest 15 minutes. Slice and serve.