Take that, Swine Flu!

It's grilling season! Actually, we grill all winter, too, as long as we can get to the grill over the snow. It is more fun when you can stay outside with the grill and have friends sit outside with you.

We got together with some friends a week ago. Thankfully we went to THEIR house, and not mine! This was during the height of the H1N1 (the flu formerly known as swine) flu hysteria. So we ate pork! Now I know that eating pork has nothing to do with catching the flu, but lots of people are now avoiding anything pig-related. Egypt killed all the pigs they could find, China locked up anybody with a Mexican passport, people generally freaked.

I don't really blame them, we live in a world where anything can happen at any time. For a while it felt like we were on the brink of the worst thing that ever happened, just like right after 9/11. I'm not forgetting that for many people 9/11 is and always will be, the worst thing that ever happened. The people who lost family in this flu outbreak are heartbroken. What I'm saying is, this was not a pandemic (YET). The historic flu outbreaks came back with a vengeance 6 months after the initial outbreak. We'll see. In the meantime, we control what we can (wash your hands, cough into your elbow, etc.) and keep going about our business.

That means a party! Pete and Chris hosted, Bill and Jen and our family brought sides and dessert and we had a great time.
Chris was kind enough to share the pork loin recipe, so you can make it too.


The guys tried out the deck for leaning. Works pretty good! They consulted with Peter about boat repairs and home improvement. We've all been friends since the early 1980's. Peter and Jen (and Bill?) went to art school together. (Peter and my Paul are cousins) It's great to spend time with people who have known us so long. We have partied together, grieved together, moved away and moved back and now we're all navigating parenthood. Peter's mom, Ginny, was back from Florida, so we caught up with her, too.



Here is Jen with Chris (the hostess with the mostess). Chris actually likes entertaining and makes it look easy. She marinated the pork and had everything ready before we arrived. For some reason, we all wore black (great minds think alike?). After dinner we inspected Chris's gardens. They have just moved in, so we helped her decide which sprouts were perennials and which were weeds. All too soon it was time to get all the kids home and ready for school the next day.




Barbecued Pork Tenderloin

1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
2 Tbls cider vinegar
1 Tbls spicy brown mustard
1 Tbls dark molasses
2 (1 pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
1/4 cup finely ground coffee
2 Tbls sugar
2 Tbls paprika
2 Tbls coarsely ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsps sea or kosher salt
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1 Tbls cider vinegar

Combine first 4 ingredients and use to marinate pork for 2-24 hours. Remove pork and discard marinade.
Prepare grill, heating one side to medium and one side to high heat. Spray rack with cooking spray.
Combine coffee and next 4 ingredients and rub over pork. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Combine barbecue sauce and vinegar, reserve 2 Tbls.
Grill pork 3 minutes over high heat, turning pork on all sides.
Move pork to medium heat, grill 15 minutes turning pork occasionally. Baste with 3 Tbls BBQ sauce, grill 5 minutes or until thermometer reads 160 degrees.
Remove from grill, brush with reserved BBQ sauce, tent with foil and let it rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve. (Yield is listed as 8 (3oz) servings, but we ate a lot more then that!)