Fabulous Friends!

To say I've been in a bit of a blogging slump is a bit understated. So much has transpired since July, I hardly know where to begin. Out of chronological sequence, but this is a view of a weekend spent with really dear friends. We had been traveling with Larry and Elaine for a couple of weeks, returned home, and then our friends Cary and Nancy came for a weekend. What a great time we had catching up with each other's lives, playing cards, eating and showing them a little bit of Kansas.

I tried a couple of new recipes for dinner, both from the July 2012 issue of Cooking Light. Our friends were my guinea pigs and all agreed the recipes were a big hit. We started off with a delicious Cherry-Peach Sangria. It was as delicious as beautiful! I made two pitchers, thinking one wouldn't be enough. We drank one on Friday evening and the other was a perfect mid-afternoon treat the next day. Everyone wanted spoons to eat the "stewed" fruit as it was SOOO delicious!

Cherry-Peach Sangria
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brandy (Next time I'll use half this amount)
2.5 cups pitted, Rainier cherries
1 (750 milliliter) bottle albarino wine, chilled*
1 cup chilled club soda
1 peach, thinly sliced
3 thyme sprigs
1 sprig purple basil (optional)
1 sprig sweet basil (optional)

Combine sugar and brandy in a pitcher and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add cherries and wine and chill for 8 hours or overnight. Just before serving, stir in club soda and remaining ingredients. Serves 6. NOTE: You can use dark cherries but they will change the color. The Rainier cherries were beautiful. I used the thyme only in first pitcher (I poured through a strainer to remove leaves), sweet basil only in second pitcher. *Wine: I couldn't find albarino wine locally (a Spanish wine) so used an Argentinian wine, not too dry, not too sweet. Perfect!

Pork and Tomato Skillet Saute
4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
4 6-ounce bone-in center-cut loin pork chops, trimmed about 1/2 inch thick
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1/2 cup thinly slice shallots
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
2 cups grape tomatoes
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Heat large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil; swirl to coat. Sprinkle chops with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add pork to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove pork from pan. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, shallots, vinegar, and garlic to pan; saute 1 minute. Combine tomatoes, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl; toss gently to coat. Add tomato mixture to pan; cook 2 minutes or until tomatoes begin to soften. Sprinkle with basil. Serve tomato mixture over the pork.  Serves 4.  NOTE: I doubled the recipe. Cooked chops longer than recipe called for. I cooked to temperature of about 140-145 degrees.  Used red and yellow tomatoes for more color. Don't know how this happened, but I forgot the basil. Would have made it even more beautiful! So flavorful and tender.

Served with oven roasted vegetables (red potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash (from local garden), red peppers, red onions and broccoli) and my Mandarian Salad. Was a really yummy meal!

On Saturday we drove around the countryside, which for the most part was very bleak, due to the extreme drought. We had never visited the Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church located in nearby Goessel, KS. The historical marker describes a short version of the migration of the Mennonites who left their former homes in Russia in 1874. Their decision to leave their homes, come to America, settle in nearby counties in Kansas was due largely to the efforts of the Santa Fe railroad's foreign immigration department. These peace-loving immigrants who left the religious  persecution of their country, brought with them the red winter wheat, which in turn led Kansas to become the "breadbasket" of the United States.

We were able to enter the beautiful sanctuary of this church. The dark woods and smells immediately took me back to the Methodist church my grandparents and aunt and uncle attended in Iowa. We and our friends just sat and soaked in the richness of this sacred place.

Back home, where Rich played lovely music for us. I had purchased a copy of David T. Clydesdale's new piano book,  "Clydesdale's Keyboard Classics". David T. was our choir director/worship leader at Calvary for several years. What a fabulous musician! His arrangements are powerful and very exciting. He writes cords of five notes in each right and left hand, uses every key on the piano keyboard from end to end and really gives Rich's neuropathy-filled hands a work out. Just hearing Rich play his arrangements took us back to our years at Calvary! Very heart-warming but gave pangs of homesickness!

Among our many blessings are the very dear friends God has placed in our lives!! It's a treat to welcome them to our home!