1) Don’t settle for steak.  2) Give your three year old the camera if you want some funny pictures of the evening.

I don’t feel like I’ve seen the girls that I lived with in college as much as I would like to in the past year or so.  So I invited them over for dinner, some birthday celebrations, to see the home improvement progress, mostly just to hang out with them.

Yes, it was a windy day, but no that didn’t stop me from grilling some pork chops.

Don't be a sissy. Grill in the winter!

America’s Favorite Chop

1) Purchase a whole or half of a pork loin at a grocery store.

2) Cut as many pork chops as guests plus a few extra for hungry people or leftovers.

3) If no pork remains skip to step 5.

4) If pork remains put the whole piece in a freezer bag to use as a roast or cut into more chops and freeze.

5) Marinate with 1 cup of Italian dressing and 3 T. Worcestershire sauce.

6) Get the grill good and hot

7) Place pork chops on a hot grill, close lid and walk away for 5 minutes.  I use this time to discard my marinade, catch up on dishes, etc.

8) Come back and flip one time.  My grill has a hot spot so I rotate pork away from the hot spot as I flip.

An unscientific study from my personal experiences shows that enjoying properly cooked pork will change your life!

9) Watch closely, when the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees remove from heat and bring inside.

10) Enjoy!

America's Favorite Pork Chop!

As I sit here and type I think about how these girls are real friends.  Within a few hours of Mark passing away I remember them coming over.  They took time off work, got babysitters for their kids, sacrificed celebrating their own birthday, etc.  It had to be incredibly hard for them.  Nobody knew what to say or do.  They cleaned my shower.  Really, like for a long time, they cleaned.  They went shopping for clothes for me to wear to the funeral (I was still dropping baby weight) and they sorted through pictures to make a video.  They stayed all night at my house and made me dinner for weeks to come.  I’m sure they cleaned some more.  They stood, sat and worked by my side through whatever needed done.

So this week is Jessie’s birthday.  She works at the corporate offices of the Limited Brands.  Those brands include Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret.  I cracked myself up by telling people that her job was to sniff the catalogue returns.  Her face turned red, I know that it embarrassed her, but it cracked me up.  Honestly typing that still cracks me up.  That is a real job, but it is not really and never has been her job.

She must not have been angry enough to quit being my friend.  After all she did come back and let the Little Farmer take this candid shot of her with the birthday cake.

Homemade Red Velvet Cake with purchased icing. Happy Birthday to a real friend!

She loves pictures as much as her illegitimate job title.

Cheers to old friends!