Sunday, August 21, 2011

First Day of School......Almost

Today was supposed to be Bear's first day of school, but during the night he awoke with a temperature of 102.5F.  So much for the first day of school.  I don't mind having him home for a few more days - I wasn't ready for school to start anyway - but I hate to have him miss the first days at a school that is still relatively new to him.  Our house has been infested with sickness lately.  Mike had a whole week off work for the Obon holiday, but Beaver caught a nasty cold, so we didn't really go anywhere or do much.  We did go downtown one day to Chinatown and found hoisin sauce at a Chinese shop, so now we can make our favorite pork chops again.  We got our grill set up and have been missing those pork chops!  On another day we went to Harborland and ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory, which it turns out is the same Old Spaghetti Factory as the one in SLC.  I thought it was just a Utah thing, but it turns out they are all over in the US, and now Japan too.  Who knew?  There is a little amusement park in Harborland and Bear really wanted to ride the little roller coaster, since he loved the roller coasters at Disneyland.  So, I went with him, but I'm pretty sure I never want to ride another roller coaster again unless it's a Disney one.  It was jerky and bumpy and not fun at all.  Bear didn't like it either.  He was so mad and disappointed when it was over.  Disneyland really is the magic kingdom - magic roller coasters and all.

On a somewhat funny note: Beaver woke up during the night, while I was awake with Bear, and came out of his room saying that he was hungry.  I was rather surprised, as that has never happened before.  Since he was up, I thought he should use the potty, too, so I took him in the bathroom and told him I would get him a piece of bread.  When he was done, however, he just went back to his bed and laid down.  I asked if he still wanted bread, but he shook his head and closed his eyes.  I suppose he just woke up with an uncomfortable feeling in his midsection and couldn't identify it.  It's tough figuring out what your body is telling you when you're only 3 years old and half asleep!

It feels like fall has arrived, and I never even took pictures of the kids swimming!  We went back to the aquarium on Thursday, but it was so, so hot.  We were pretty miserable and wished we had gone swimming instead.  We went the next day, but it was cooler, and has been rainy and cool ever since.  I haven't been taking pictures at all.  I was planning back to school pictures this morning, but those will have to wait.  So, no pictures.  I'll share my pork chop recipe with you instead!

Sometimes you come across a recipe for some ingredient that is so good, there is no reason to ever cook that ingredient another way.  So it is with these pork chops.  I have tried cooking pork chops in different ways a few times, but it is never worth it.  I always end up wishing I had stuck with my old standby.  I got this recipe from a Japanese chef on Martha Stewart years ago.  He called them Asian pork chops.  I call them The Only Way I Ever Cook Pork Chops.

First you need:  Pork chops.  This recipe is best with center cut, bone-in pork chops.  I don't know why, but they give the best results.  It is also good with boneless ones, but I would recommend the bone-in, center cut chops.

Mix in a glass casserole dish: 5 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon sugar, 2 cloves pressed garlic (I usually use bottled, minced garlic.  Shhhh....don't tell!).

Put the pork chops in and coat them with the marinade.  Marinate for at least a half hour.  Overnight or all day if needed.

Grill the chops.  They can also be cooked under a broiler, if you can do that without setting off the smoke alarm.  I can't.  Length of time will depend on the thickness of your chops.

That is all!  If you have a fabulous pork chop recipe, let me know and I'll see if these can be topped!

3 comments:

Fran said...

1.)Way to figure out your kid's need in the middle of the night.
2.)Bones have flavor in them.
3.)I'm glad Grandma thought to get swimming pictures:)

christy said...

those ingredients are very similar to what we use for the pork filling in our steamed buns, mmm dim sum
so glad our whole family enjoys chinese food.

kelsey said...

My mouth is watering!