I’m getting ready to go back to bed for a nap but wanted to hop on here real quick to humble brag about a meal I made last weekend. I had bought a pork tenderloin on sale – mostly because it was such a good sale and I couldn’t pass that up. We don’t eat a lot of pork around here because I have never been able to cook it well, so it’s usually dry and tasteless. I have *never* made pork tenderloin so it was completely foreign to me. However, I saw this sale while preparing my grocery order online and did a quick search for what to do with a pork tenderloin, found an easy and tempting recipe for a spice rub, and went ahead and bought the meat.
I also had a bunch of russet potatoes I had leftover from Easter. I had ordered a 5 pound bag, they were out of stock so they gave me a 10 pound bag. I had commented that I didn’t know what I was going to do with all those potatoes. This led to a discussion with my mother-in-law about all the wonderful things you can do with potatoes – au gratin, scalloped, cheesy, etc. – and that conversation was still rolling around in my head a week later.
This is when I had the bright idea to make a Sunday feast for my family. Pork tenderloin with au gratin potatoes. I was so excited! I would prepare the potatoes early so all I would need to do is put them in the oven. I would take my sweet time preparing the tenderloin, trimming the fat and applying the spice rub. It was going to be great.
“But so much food, Mel. So much. And you have picky eaters, they may not like pork and potatoes. Maybe you should invite a friend or two to join you, to help you eat this feast.”
And that is exactly what I did. I invited a few friends over, friends who were safe and kind people who would not mind if the pork and potatoes were terrible and we ended up resorting to frozen burritos instead. But you know what happened? It turned out amazing. Yep. It smelled so good in my house I wished I could have taken a picture, but since that was obviously not possible I was thrilled there were people on their way over to smell it for themselves. And we had a wonderful time. It was informal and relaxed and everyone ate and enjoyed themselves – even my family of picky eaters.
Y’all, I have always had such a low view of myself in this area, of cooking and hosting, this day was a major confidence booster for sure. It was a memorable day and I’m so proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new. I’ve always marveled at others who get such joy out of feeding other people and now I feel like I’m starting to “get” it. It makes me more eager to keep trying, and I look forward to more feasts. What should I make next?
