Rosemary Pork Tenderloin with Cranberry sauce

This one I just love. It takes a bit of time, but is really simple. We were staying at a friend's cottage, so were just hanging around relaxing all day - perfect for this recipe. The sauce I think tastes best with fresh cranberry sauce, but you can used canned as well. We fed 4 adults with two tenderloins, plus some side salads. I cooked the pork to an internal temp of 155 deg, although there are varying opinions on this. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency recommends 160, while the USDA lowered its guidelines to 145. Don't forget to let the meat rest a few minutes. Once again, I forgot to take a good picture so I found one that closely resembles what I ended up with.

Rosemary Pork Tenderloin with Cranberry Sauce

Next time: I saw one recipe that substituted blueberries for the cranberries, and thyme for the rosemary

Me: 9/10
SO: 8/10
SSO: 5/10

Spaghetti Squash with Thyme

Here is another side dish I made for Christmas dinner. I love squash along side turkey, especially spaghetti squash with the long strands it is known for. It actually has some texture, rather than being just a lump of mush. Most recipes out there suggest chevril or sage or basil, but I went out on a limb and tried thyme. The general consensus seemed positive - maybe I'll try it again and see, just to make sure it wasn't the rum and eggnog talking. Again, I had to borrow a picture from somewhere. This one wasn't the best, but it fairly closely resembled what I ended up with.

Spaghetti Squash with thyme

Next time: maybe another herb

Me: 8/10
SO: 8/10
SSO: 4/10

Pan-fried Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Here's one of those veggies that nobody seems to like very much. I think they are making a come-back of sorts, I've seen lots of articles and recipes trumpeting their health benefits and flavour. I'm not sure what people don't like about them; I guess if you don't like cabbage you won't like these - but then again, it's all about how you cook them and what you put on them. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of mine, but there are thousands of photos I found through a Google image search that all look pretty much identical - so I borrowed one.

Pan-fried Brussels Sprouts with bacon

This recipe is so simple, yet really tasty. I ended up making this as one of the sides for Christmas dinner. Forget the mushy peas and boring carrots!  I've also seen an intriguing version that is baked and has a sweet and fiery sauce which I may have to try, but this time around it is all about the bacon!

Next time: Will try them baked with a vinegar/chili sauce, but honestly this was good as it was.

Me: 10/10
SO: 9/10
SSO: 5/10

Tuna Cheese Ball

The Cheese Ball.  It isn't really my thing, despite the fact that I like putting just about any cheese on a cracker...and I've had many a quick tuna lunch or dinner. That doesn't necessarily mean that the two can go together though, right?  Turns out this is pretty delish. SO wanted a cheese ball to eat over the Christmas holidays, and so found a recipe similar to this. It had pecans which I decided to drop, and also green pepper which SO cannot digest. I also bumped up the hot sauce and horseradish, and ended up with this. It is also not technically a "ball", although I sort of like the shape. It seems more conducive to eating on a small plate.

Tuna Cheese Ball

Next time: I would put more celery for crunch, and bump up the hot sauce and Worcestershire.

Me: 7/10
SO: 8/10
SSO: n/a