Faith, Family, Food and Dogs

Last weekend I went grocery shopping. Nothing new there, I do that every week. This week, however I simply got carried away and spent way too much money. On the bright side, my chest freezer is now over half-full but there is still room for a turkey later on. One of the items on sale was pork tenderloin and since I hadn't had one in quite some time I picked up a package. I remembered I had this recipe which I found way, way back when I was in my first marriage and had not, to the best of my recollection, made this dish in at least 15 years maybe longer. So using the old, No Time Like The Present phrase I decided to make this. You start out by making a molasses sauce/marinade for the pork. It takes a lot of stirring or all the rosemary floats to the top. I love molasses. Next you take your pork tenderloin and wipe it with paper towels. Since my one tenderloin was almost as heavy as the two smaller ones called for in the recipe I made the full amount of sauce. Place the pork ...

The great move was on June 30th. By 2:00 pm, everything had been moved and the U-Haul returned. I took the girls for a long walk since they had been cooped up during the move and then cracked a bottle of champagne to toast my good fortune. The first order of business was to get the bedroom settled. I had told the professionals not to put the mattress on the box springs as I had a new dust ruffle I wanted to put down first. Somehow I missed the fact that my king size mattress has a definite up side and down side. They had placed it with the upside facing out so I couldn't just let it fall onto the box springs. After a lot, and I do mean a LOT of cussing and swearing I got the mattress to where I could just let it fall onto the box springs and new dust ruffle. Once I had the bed made I worked on getting the nightstands and dresser where I wanted it and unpacked all my clothes. This is how the bedroom looked once I made the bed on Sunday morning. I'm off to a good start.This ...

Moving, the word sends shudders through my body. The words that describe my dislike for moving include loathe, abhor, hate, despise and detest. Those are the clean ones. This upcoming move will be, my 6th in five and a half years. When I moved into my previous apartment I loved the place. The floor plan with the sunken living room and fireplace, and separate dining area was nice. All tile floors were great for dogs that shed. It was close to shopping, highways, grocery stores and a few cheap eateries and a great Oriental/Caribbean market where I could find items to make Hawaiian meals. Then the complex was sold and we got new management who didn't properly vet the new tenants. Gun shots and break ins became common. I saw women try to pick up "tricks" in the parking lot, drug deals going down in broad daylight, maintenance became non existent. It took me 9 months to get them to finally stop my tub from dripping. 9 months of constant mold and mildew in my tub. There wa...

After I escaped all the dinosaurs I decided to take a lap around the zoo and see what was new. This is the start of the huge tree that will be in the ape exhibit. It will be covered in cement and painted to look like a real tree.The new area will be open by Labor Day weekend. This is the gate that leads to the Oriental garden and a koi pond. It is always a relaxing spot in the zoo. It seems quieter once you step through the gates. The azaleas were in full bloom. Another new thing in the zoo is our female Komodo Dragon. There is a male somewhere around and he is way bigger than she is. The zoo recently welcomed two tiger cubs of an endangered species. They were named Rocky and Jag-urr. As they get older they will be shipped to different zoos so there is no chance of inbreeding. We had a rather cold winter and there were a lot of dead banana trees around the zoo. A little further down one of the zoo's two black bears was enjoying a snack. I much prefer seeing them in th...

The dinosaurs returned to Jacksonville, and like before, they took up residence at the zoo. As I got out of my car I could them roar. It was kind of like Jurassic Park on a much safer and smaller scale. As you enter the era of the dinosaur, they have it decorated like a base camp. Here is a long que area but as I was one of the first 5 people in I didn't have to wait in line. A little further in there is a "dig" going on. The bored children can work on excavating a skeleton. You pass a sign signifying that you are entering Pangea. There were other signs but I am saving you from boredom. This was purely informative. Once you are really in there are dinos everywhere. They're peeking out from the bushes. Or stretching their wings. There were a couple that looked like T-Rex but they weren't. I didn't take the time to get photos if every identification plaque. I would have been there all day. This one would roar and bend down towards you like i...