I've Got Questions

 

 

There is, in fact, such a thing as a stupid question. Turns out there are many of them. And there will be ten more of them by the end of this post (just a little something for you to look forward to).

 

Today, according to those who are in the know, is National Stupid Question Day. 

 

When I first saw that mentioned on one of those silly holidays and celebrations websites, I thought it must be a mistake. I mean, everyone's heard of Carl Sagan's quote "there are naive questions, tedious questions, ill-phrased questions, questions put after inadequate self-criticism. But every question is a cry to understand the word. There is no such thing as a dumb question." Well, we've all heard that last sentence anyway.

If I were to question Carl Sagan, that would be stupid, right? So would that be a stupid question? And did Carl Sagan actually help me prove that there is such a thing as a stupid question after all?

I went in search of enlightenment. And, since Sagan himself died in 1996, I couldn't look to him for answers. Not without a seance or a ouiji board anyway. So I went to the next best place, Google. My query sent me to an article by an African website called Briefly, in which they compiled stupid questions from a number of online question and answer sites.

All I needed to convince me that the developers of Ask a Stupid Question Day may have been onto something that had escaped the renowned Mr. Sagan was in that article. Some of the questions compiled:

"Should I tell my parents I'm adopted?"

 

and

 

"What happens if I don't show up for an interview?"

I rest my case.

 

 

So, in the celebration of my newfound knowledge about the whole question thing, and in recognition of this clearly necessary national holiday, I've got questions.

 

~ If you're on the job driving the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile, would you get fired if you're caught in the line at the McDonald's drive thru?

 

~ If you bake an upside down cake and eat it upside down, is it then a right side up cake?

 

~ Why would reservations mean restaurant bookings and also mean doubts, when I'd never have reservations about making reservations?

 

~ Shouldn't Walgreens signs be green?

 

~ If your pork chops have a crunchy cereal coating, are they dinner or breakfast?

 

 

Baked Apple Cinnamon Pork Chops

(or Chicken Breasts)

 

 

~ With so many people blocking each other, shouldn't internet communities now be called antisocial media?

~ They've shown us the self-driving cars, where are they hiding the self-cleaning houses?

 

~ Why does working out not always work out?

~ Are new medications named by having a cat walk across a keyboard?

 

~ Why are political representatives political, but not representative?

Question everything. 

 

Or not.

 

Baked Apple Cinnamon Pork Chops

(or Chicken Breasts)      

                                                                                        ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

 

NOTE: You can make this recipe using boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Ingredients: 

6 boneless pork chops

1/3 cup apple juice

1 1/2 cups Apple Cinnamon Chex cereal

2 TBSP butter

 

OPT: my Devil's Applesauce for serving 

Directions:
*Place the pork chops (or chicken breasts) in a sealable bag or shallow dish. Pour the apple juice over the chops. Seal the bag (or cover the dish) and refrigerate for at least 1 and up to 4 hours. Turn the chops a few times.

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 X 13 baking dish.

*Crush the cereal to crumbs, place on a plate.

*Coat the meat with the cereal crumbs, pressing down and making sure all sides are coated. Place in the baking dish. Melt the butter and drizzle over the top.

*Bake for about 45 - 50 minutes. For safety, make sure the meat is completely cooked through.

*OPT: serve with my Devil's Applesauce.

Pretzel Crusted Pork Chops with Apricot Cream Sauce: Snuggly and Warm Blog With Friends

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends themed collaborations. Each month a group of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about his partnership is that it's not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may a recipe, sewing tutorial, crocheting, crafts project, book review, and/or technology post all related to the theme of the month.

This month's theme is Snuggly and Warm.

There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post, but here's a peek at what we all came up with:

I made Pretzel Crusted Pork Chops with Apricot Cream Sauce. 

Pretzel Crusted Pork Chops with Apricot Cream Sauce 

I don't know about you, especially if you live in a warmer climate, but I cook completely differently in the winter than the rest of the year. In the spring, summer and early fall I make lighter meals, often use the grill, frequently make cold meals, and stay away from soups, stews and thick sauces. In the winter my meals tend to be more substantial, may include sauces and need to be both more filling and warming.

Snuggly and warm are a lot of things, especially this time of year, like bundling up in a comfortable throw on the couch, a fire in the fireplace, but after a long day in and out of the freezing cold, it often starts with a hot satisfying meal. Like my Pretzel Crusted Pork Chops with Apricot Cream Sauce.

For this meal there are two parts. I start with coating the pork chops ahead of time. The coating is a light dusting of seasoned flour, a dip in milk, and a dredging in crushed pretzels.

Once coated, I place the pork chops in the fridge. I find that the crust adheres to the chops better when cooking if they are refrigerated for a while before pan frying. I actually did this step hours before cooking.

The second step for the preparation of this meal is to prepare the sauce and then cook the chops. The sauce has few ingredients which I gather together before starting so everything is measured out and ready to go.

I prepare the sauce by whisking the ingredients in a saucepan until thickened.

The pork chops are then pan fried in hot oil in a saute pan, then drained on paper towels.

Serve the Pretzel Crusted Pork Chops topped with the Apricot Cream Sauce.

As always, any time you make one of my recipes, feel free to post a picture of it to my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page. I'd love to see it!

Be sure to visit all of this month's other Blog With Friends projects:

Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares her recipe for Sugar Free Banana Bread French Toast. 

Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares her DIY Memory Pillow.

Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments shares Heart Happy.

Jules of The Bergham Chronicles shares Spreading Warmth.

Pretzel Crusted Pork Chops with Apricot Cream Sauce

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
6 oz pretzels
2# thin cut, bone in, center cut pork chops (do not use thick cut)
1/2 cup flour
salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
1/2 cup milk
3 TBSP canola oil

2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP flour
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
2 tsp apricot jam
1/2 tsp dried chives

Directions:
*Finely grate the pretzels in a food processor until crumbs. Place on a dish.
*Place the 1/2 cup of flour in another dish and mix with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Place the milk in a bowl.
*Rinse the pork chops and pat dry. Dip them lightly in the flour, then tap to remove any excess flour. Dip fully in the milk, then dredge them in the pretzel crumbs. Place on a dish and refrigerate.
*Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the 2 TBSP flour then add salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes until the mixture starts to brown. 
*Slowly whisk in the heavy cream and continue to whisk until it thickens. Add the white wine, dried apricots and apricot jam. Cook and stir for 3 minutes. Lower the heat, add the chives and keep warm.
*In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat until hot. It's hot enough when, if you add a little of the pretzel crumbs, they sizzle. 
*Carefully add the pork chops, two at a time. Cook for about 5 minutes, gently flip the chops over, reduce the heat slightly and cook the other side for about 3 minutes. The amount of cooking time will depend on the thickness of your pork chops, be sure that they are cooked through with barely a touch of pink in the center.
*Remove to paper towels to drain. Repeat with any remaining chops, adding more oil if necessary.
*Serve the pork chops with the Apricot Cream Sauce drizzled over the top.

Secret Subject Swap: Quiet Celebrations

Welcome to the January Secret Subject Swap. This month 13 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

My subject is: You get to celebrate New Year's Eve wherever you like. Tell us about it!
It was submitted by: Confessions of a part time working mom.

I hate when I start a post with an apology. Yet that's how I'm starting this one. If I had gotten this prompt any other month, I'd be writing a completely different post. I can see myself indulging my imagination, coming up with lavish plans in exotic places. Or I could write a funny take on a New Year's Eve gone awry. 

Many of you who read this blog know that I'm really in the mood for neither of those scenarios right now. I'm feeling down and a little lost. So I'm coming at this one a bit differently than my norm. Life for me right now is a struggle for comfort. 

Pork Chop Dinner Casserole

Comfort is a relative thing. When I was in high school, in college, and starting out in my career, New Year's Eve was a big deal. I was comfortable in big parties, large celebrations, loud music, fancy clothes, screaming countdowns, cocktails, cocktails and more cocktails, standing room only, party hats and noisemakers, kisses right at the exact moment.

After Hubs and I got married, we were new to the Midwest and struggling to have children.  Most of the time I was at a point where I wasn't able to drink so New Year's Eve celebrations were more subdued. Dressing up, reservations, dinner out, casual conversation and great food, later a fire in the fireplace, watching the ball drop, kisses right at the exact moment.

When we had kids our celebrations changed once again. We were very fortunate to have friends with children about the same age as ours. We'd get Chinese take out at our house or theirs, eat a casual dinner, watch the kids play, talk, laugh, have a few cocktails. Depending on how the kids held up, sometimes we'd still be together to welcome the new year, other times we'd be home a little earlier, a fire in the fireplace, watching the ball drop, kisses right at the exact moment.

Although these quiet celebrations were the perfect way to welcome the new year with little kids, I also wanted to party with friends. I came up with a great way to do that. Every New Year's Day, I'd host a brunch. It was casual, family oriented, open house so people could come and go whenever they wanted. I served cocktails and champagne for the adults and punch for the kids. I'd set up big long tables in the living room so people could sit. The entire dining room became the buffet table. I cooked and baked and prepared for weeks. Friends would often bring a favorite dish or whip up a favorite cocktail or just pitch in with the heating and serving. The house was full, often I'd have over 40 guests. And late that afternoon my closest friends would stay and we'd critique the dishes, picking which ones were a definite for the next year.

Looking back through the years I can say that each of the forms of celebration, although not extravagant, was just the right fit for that particular time in our lives.

When our kids were about junior high school age we developed a new family tradition. At this point I not only didn't really want to be out on the roads on New Year's Eve, but I didn't want my kids to be either. They were young boys so obviously they wanted to party with friends, and I could accommodate that. The boys and their friends already had a well established hang-out space in our home. The walk-out basement has a 57 inch tv with game systems, a pool table, eating area with microwave, room with a spare fridge that I kept full of soda, water bottles and gatorade, and it's own bathroom. On New Year's Eve I'd line the entire kitchen counter with appetizers, hot and cold. A separate counter area was full of desserts. Kids would come and go from the basement, filling plates all night long and then disappearing back downstairs. There's couches in the basement and a bedroom too, anyone who wanted to stay over could. Hubs and I would stay on the main level, noshing on appetizers, drinking champagne, a fire in the fireplace, watching the ball drop, kisses right at the exact moment.

Honestly, especially this year, I cannot think of anything better.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup and check them all out. See you there:

Dinosaur Superhero Mommy 

The Bergham Chronicles 

The Lieber Family Blog 
Spatulas on Parade 
Rena's World 
Not That Sarah Michelle 
Confessions of a part time working mom 
Southern Belle Charm 
Someone Else's Genius 
My Brain on Kids 
Climaxed 
The Angrivated Mom 

Pork Chop Dinner Casserole

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups long grain rice
4 pork chops
garlic powder
1 head broccoli, cleaned and cut to florets
2 oz slivered almonds
4 oz mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1 can beef broth
1 can vegetable broth
paprika

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 X 13 baking dish.
*Sprinkle the rice over the bottom of the dish.
*Cut the pork chops in half and season both sides with garlic powder.
*In a large bowl, mix the broccoli florets, almonds, mushrooms, onion, pepper, onion soup mix, beef broth and vegetable broth. Careful pour over the rice in the baking dish.
*Place the pork chops on top and gently press down, just slightly into the soup mix. Cover tightly and bake for 45 minutes.
*Remove from oven and raise oven temperature to 375 degrees. Uncover the casserole, turn the pork chops over, sprinkle with paprika and return to the oven for 15 minutes or until the pork is cooked through and the rice has absorbed the liquid.