Before the Battle

Saturday was a lovely, quiet day. Apart from the low pressure giving me some kind of sinus headache that lingered, the dark grey skies were beautiful. We stopped by the farmers' market saw our beloved Greg and Jon Pines....bought sage and rosemary and little sweet potatoes and green beans and kale (from Greg) and beets and fennel (from Blue Moon).

Then we headed out to Arcola and hit up Beachy's, the Amish bulk food store. We bought pie crust dough, a stewing hen, some spices and all sorts of odds and ends because I just can't help myself. We meandered home, stopping at an antique mall and buying some totally unneccesary glass. Did I NEED 4 Egyptian sauces? No, but there they were  for just a couple of dollars, they're from the 18802 and they've got the Acropolis on them for God's sake....and two honeycomb goblets...one has a chip on the base but the pair just cost a dollar and will be good for house concerts. It was lovely driving through the Amish area.....all those white houses with blue curtains and horse and buggies clip clopping along.

We meandered home, stopping to take a picture of a lonely old house.

We settled in at home and started some Thanksgiving prep.....cranberry cabernet sauce and turkey stock. Later I made a pork loin with fennel which was heavenly. Just heavenly. I'm not always the biggest fan of pork loin because it is easy to dry out but this was good....almost overcooked it a bit but the flavor was wonderful!

Pot-roasted Pork in White Wine with Garlic, Fennel and Rosemary
by Jamie Oliver in Happy Days with Naked Chef

3 1/2 lb loin of pork
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
2-3 large pats of butter
olive oil
8 cloves of garlic, skin left on
1 handful fresh rosemary, leaves picked off
4 bay leaves
1 fennel bulb, sliced
1/2 bottle of Charonnay

Preheat oven to 400 dgrees. He says to tie up your pork loin to keep in a snug shape but I didn't do this. Season generously, then roll in fennel seeds (I used more than a tablespoon). In a casserole pan or roasting pan (I used something with a lid) brown the meat in the oil and butter until golden.

Throw in everything else then cover the pan loosely with wax paper ( just used a lid). I used a lot more bay leaves because mine are pretty old. Roast for 1 1/4 hours. I checked mine at 1 hour and it was a bit past done but too bad. He says to remove it all and make a pan sauce adding butter. Mine was pretty liquidy....probably should gone with the wax paper.... What I did was just serve it on top of some small golden potatoes.Oh, and I tossed in some leftover kale for a little green.... REALLY nice!!!

Today we're in the midst of all sorts of school and homework battles. Before the battle though, it was a lovely weekend.