Friends, Paula Deen & Pork salad

I have great friends, and I'm very thankful for all of them!! I especially appreciate my friends who no longer live in DC but still stay in touch and mean a lot to me. This post has to do with two of them.

First, look at the thoughtful housewarming gift I received in the mail from Kenny! I doubt I'll actually use this cutting board for cutting, but I absolutely love that it's personalized and in Spanish :) {If you want to order one for yourself or a friend who loves to cook, go here.

Moving to my other friend who moved away from DC...Paige flew from Atlanta for a weekend in DC and came to visit me in my new condo for an evening of cooking, catching up and eating. Paige and I became friends when we lived on the same floor of an apartment building and had such a great time getting together for craft projects, TV watching, dinners and just girl "stuff." She also always made sure that I evacuated my apartment when we had fire drills.

And then she decided to move back to Atlanta! We kept in touch and two years ago took a trip to Savannah. Alas, we did not have the time to stand in line and make reservations for The Lady and Sons restaurant, so this time when Paige came to visit me, she brought a jar of Paula Deen's Sun Dried Tomato Marinade.

For dinner we decided to cook something simple so that there'd be more time for catching up, instead of chopping, sauteing and mixing things. I made mashed potatoes with garlic and a bit of cream and a salad of lettuce, avocado, radishes, white onion, dill, olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Paige made pork chops: she drizzled a pan with some olive oil, put the pork chops down and poured Sun Dried Tomato Marinade on top of them. That was pretty much it. She turned the pork chops a few times and also added a bit of water while the pork was cooking to thin out the marinade. And we just used a thermometer to figure out when the pork was done. Yep, that's us: two Jewish girls cooking pork! Make sure you don't overcook the pork: it's already dead when you buy it: please make sure it's a bit pink when you eat it.

The pork turned out flavorful and juicy and could not have been easier to make.

We drank some Riesling, had dinner accompanied with sourdough bread and for dessert had cherries with home-made whipped cream.

Public announcement: friends should not let friends be alone in a house with sourdough bread and olive oil.

 The next day for lunch I decided to use the leftovers from our dinner to make a healthy salad. {I also happen to think that it's pretty.}

Pork Salad with avocado and radishes

All you need is lettuce, sliced avocado, radishes, and leftover cold sliced pork. Drizzle with some olive oil and you are set.

 Remember to tell your friends how much they mean to you!