Visit from Friends

Some friends of ours are camping this week in Colorado for their vacation. I hoped we could go meet them at the camp grounds, but things did not work out that way. Maybe next year. So they decided to drive to our house (2 - 2 1/2 hours from where they're camping) to visit. They came over last night for dinner and stayed the night. It was so much fun for me to see them. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw them - it had to be at least 2 years ago.

Andy is one of my oldest friends. He's not one of the oldest age-wise, but he's one of my longest friends. That sounds weird, too! I have know Andy for most of my life. I can only think of one other friend I have had for that long (Julie who I blogged about a long time ago). We grew up at church together, went to high school together, went to college together, and then both moved to Dallas after college. We even went to the same church and singles group in Dallas for a while. We go way back. You can see in this picture that Andy and his wife Amy are expecting their first child in October. It was so good to see them and spend even a little bit of time with them.


This is what we had for dinner.

Pork, Apricot, and Red-onion Kebabs
Everyday Food, July/August 2008 p. 26
4 servings

vegetable oil, for grates
1/4 cup apricot jam
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound), cut into twenty 1-inch cubes
8 apricots (about 1 pound), pitted and quartered
1 small red onion, cut into 2-inch wedges, layers separated

1. Heat grill to medium; lightly oil grates. Soak four 12-inch wooden skewers in a shallow dish of water for 15 minutes (or use metal ones).

2. Make basting sauce: In a small saucepan, heat jam, cayenne, and 1 tablespoon water over medium-low until jam is liquefied; season with salt and pepper.

3. Onto each skewer, alternately thread 5 pieces of pork with 8 of apricot and 4 of onion, beginning and ending with pork. Grill kebabs, turning occasionally and brushing with basting sauce, until pork is cooked through and apricots begin to char, 12 to 14 minutes.

I used chicken breasts for this rather than the pork. It seems like we've had enough pork lately. I also doubled this recipe. I wasn't sure that one skewer was going to be enough for everyone. And I like to have leftovers so we can take our lunches to work with us. Matthew and I really enjoyed this. This was my first experience with fresh apricots. They were so easy to pit and were really tasty. I will definitely make this again...probably sooner rather than later. Matthew was surprised that he enjoyed the apricots as much as he did, too.

I served this with the bean salad below (which I also doubled) and asparagus cooked in the oven. I like to heat the oven to 400 degrees. I put the asparagus on a cookie sheet with some olive oil and crushed red pepper. I think I cooked it between 15 and 20 minutes. This makes the ends a little crunchy and it has a little bit of a kick to it. As much as I fix asparagus, I think this is Matthew's favorite way to eat it. Matthew was not really a fan of the bean salad. He didn't think it had much flavor. I really enjoyed it, but for some reason I just love beans.

Warm White Bean Salad
Weight Watchers, Cook Smart flyer
4 servings

4 teaspoons olive oil
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, minced
1/4 cup each diced green and red bell pepper
2 tablespoons fresh (or 1 teaspoon dried) minced sage
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 (16 ounce) can cannellini (white kidney) beans, rinsed and drained

Heat the oil in a medium nonstick skillet. Add the tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, sage, garlic, salt, and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Take off the heat and stir in the beans.