A Super Easy Dinner Recipe and Some Christmas Cheer

December 14th * Remember to enter the Christmas Giveaway by clicking on the button on

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This is what the Advent House looks like with some of the doors open. Click for a better view.

Isabel. Isabel, a milk maid, lives in Hebron, just outside of Bethelem. She and her husband, a cloth merchant, have two children and are expecting a third shortly. Isabel has sent her children to Bethlehem to see the new baby who was born in a stable. She will join them after she has finished milking the goat and gathering some grain that will be gifts for the Holy Family. Isabel knows that the baby born in the stable is special because the stars are very bright and there are more of them than usual. On the road to Bethlehem, she passes many other people who are also going to see the baby. When Isabel arrives in Bethlehem with her gifts she sees her children at the stable admiring the Baby Jesus. She hurries to join them so they can experience this blessed event together.

The stable is a busy place.

I am trying to bake one or two cookie recipes each day.

I forgot to take step by step pictures of these.

Mexican wedding cakes aka snowballs.

With so much going on right now I try to find really good recipes that can be prepared quickly. This is one of them which I tried recently and wanted to pass on. Trim 2 pork tenderloins. Season heavily with salt and pepper.

Sear each tenderloin in a heavy pot in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter.

Dice 1 onion.

After the pork is seared place it in a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until it registers 155 degrees on a meat thermometer.

Meanwhile, saute' the onions in the pan drippings and add 1/2 cup of red wine and 1 cup of sugar.

Stir in 2 bags of cranberries.

Add the zest and juice of one orange. Bring to a boil and let most of the cranberries pop then remove and allow to cool briefly.

Remove the pork from the oven and let it rest.

After approximately 10 minutes slice the pork reserving all the juice.

Serve it next to mashed potatoes sprinkled with fresh rosemary and top it with the cranberry sauce. The pork will be done in the middle. The pink in the picture is from the sauce. Spoon some of the juice from the meat over both the meat and the potatoes.