Elle's New England Kitchen

Dinner

I didn't take any photos of dinner last night, but it was pork chops. They were delicious, but my husband got home from work kind of late, and he was hungry, so I didn't worry about pulling out the camera and getting pics. I'll tell you how I make perfect, juicy chops, though.

I use a seasoning called Amazing Taste,
and it really IS amazing! They have one for pork, poultry, burgers, beef, seafood, and one called Malibu, which is an all purpose blend. It's the only thing I use on my chops. I also use the burger one in ground turkey, and it makes awesome burgers, and the poultry one made good burgers in a pinch when the store was out of the pork one.

So, here's how I make the chops (I always buy center cut boneless chops, and try to get them at least an inch thick):

1. Heat the oven to 375°.
2. Heat on oven proof skillet on med. high.
3. Rub the chops generously with the Amazing Taste Seasoning.
4. Add a bit of oil to the pan and get it good and hot.
5. Add the chops to the skillet and saute for about 3-4 minutes on one side, or until they're
browned enough to release from the pan.
6. Turn them over, and saute for about 3-4 more minutes, depending on thickness of the chops.
7. Now put them in the hot oven for about 3-4 more minutes.
8. Check the temp--they should be from 155°-160°.
9. Take them out of the pan and let them sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.


Ooooh looky, they have shaker containers with more flavor varieties!


Free e Cookbook for a Very Good Cause!

From now until the end of March, Barilla will donate $1 for every download of their celeb cookbook to America's Second Harvest. It has recipes from Stanley Tucci, Natalie Portman, Mario Batalli, Marisa Tomei, Debra Messing and Chris Daughtry.

Get your copy here!

You can help the hungry by just doing a few clicks--it couldn't be easier! I already downloaded mine, and it's a nice little book.

Thanks to Katy at sugarlaws for posting about it!


Dogs


I had a little chat with Erin this morning, from ErinCooks.com,
about my Corgis. We have two of them, Hammy and Phoebe. We got Hammy, or Hamilton Bloo-regard Q. Kazoo last February. His name? I wanted to name him Hamilton, after the squirrel in Over the Hedge:


And my kids wanted to name him Bloo, after Bloo-regard Q. Kazoo, from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends:


So we compromised. My (3 year old at the time) son wanted to name him Toast. I couldn't imagine yelling "Toastyyyyy" to call this dog in from the (fenced in) yard, so I let him down easy, and convinced him that Hammy was very cool.

I started thinking about what a little fuzzball he was when we brought him home. He's a tri-color-- black, tan and white.

Baby Hammy:


Soon, we decided we needed another Corgi. A pal for Hammy. In May, we went to Maine to get Phoebe. We met her brothers and sisters and her mom and dad. There was one little girl that looked just like Hammy, but she was already reserved. Not a problem, because there were lots of other little fuzzballs vying for our attention. Oh, and Hammy was with us. He was so sweet there--he just knew these were his kind of dogs!

We picked a sweet little girl who immediately loved us. She's a sable corgi. Baby Phoebe:

She even loves books, so she fit right in!

The night we brought her home, we were out in the backyard with the two of them, and Hammy pulled out all the stops trying to impress his new best friend. He was running around at top speed, and doing all of his tricks. It was like he was saying "Look! Look at me! Soon you'll be able to do all of this, tooooooo!!!!!" hehehe

Did she care? Not one bit. She acted that way that all girls know...hard to get. She didn't care one teeny bit what his tricks were, because soon, she'd be in charge, anyway. And she was. Now, when she wants to go out, Hammy has to, as well, simply because she wants him to. He's a good boy, and will...ahem..."generously" move so she can get the good spot in the sun. But he doesn't mind, because they are truly best buds.


You can read more about Corgis here.

And I'll give you a few more photos of my puppies: