Thanksgiving goodness

This year we were blessed with not having to cook, or host, Thanksgiving dinner at our house. Dear friends invited all of us over for a feast, and it was wonderful! Thanks Paul and Meghann! One of our Black Friday purchases was a new garage door opener to replace the original 1966 model that we've been dealing with for a year. Aaron and I did a pretty good job of installing it, and just as we were lowering the door manually to install the wiring for the sensors - WHACK! One of the door springs broke. Super. So much for a new garage door opener. Oh, there's more.

I was driving Aaron's car all day Saturday with Carly and one of her friends - shopping, taking Scott to the airport, etc. And the minute Aaron gets into his car to go somewhere, it starts making a horrible, loud, something-is-wrong-with-me noise. We're talking loud enough to hear from inside the house while he's coming down the street. Not good. So this morning I'm waiting for a tow truck to pick the car up and drive it to the Mazda Dealership. Merry Christmas.

Ginger and Honey Pork Tenderloin

We had this at book club the other night, and it was fantastic! The recipe calls for Oyster Sauce, which I don't have in my pantry - I might try it without before I buy a whole bottle.

Two 3/4 – pound pork tenderloins
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup oyster sauce
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh gingerroot
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Pat pork dry and arrange in a shallow dish. In a bowl, whisk together all remaining ingredients and pour marinade over pork. If desired, set aside some of the marinade to warm and use as a sauce over the cooked pork. Turn pork to coat well. Chill pork, covered, turning it once or twice, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

Grill: Grill pork, basting with marinade and turning it every 3 minutes, 10 minutes total. Discard marinade. Continue to cook pork, turning it every 3 minutes, until a thermometer diagonally inserted 2 inches into center of tenderloin registers 155°F., about 10 minutes more. Let pork stand 5 minutes before thinly slicing.

Oven: Preheat oven to 400°F. Place pork in shallow baking dish. Pour marinade over pork. Bake approximately 40 minutes, or until a thermometer diagonally inserted 2 inches into center of tenderloin registers 155°F. Let pork stand 5 minutes before thinly slicing.

This may be the "new" pumpkin pie at our house...Bob says he likes it much better than regular pumpkin pie. It is what was served at our R.S. fall social last night.

Pumpkin Pie Cake

Mix together:

1 yellow cake mix (reserve 1 cup for later)

1 egg

1 square margarine or butter melted

Press into a 9x13 cake pan

Mix together:

30 oz. can pumpkin pie mix

2 eggs

2/3 c canned milk

Pour pumpkin mix over bottom crust.

Mix together until crumbly:

Remaining 1 c cake mix

1/3 c. sugar

3 TBSP butter

1 tsp cinnamon

Sprinkle over pumpkin. Bake at 325˚ for 55 to 50 minutes. Bake 70 minutes if using Duncan Hines mix. Serve plain or top with ice cream or cool whip.