What's for breakfast?

There is absolutely nothing like the aroma of bacon in the morning as you sleepily stumble down the stairs. What is even better than the smell and the crackle coming from the griddle, is the feeling you get when you realize your husband is whipping up a surprise breakfast!

This morning Roger anxiously wanted to try our freshly harvested zucchini. He couldn't wait for me to cook it tomorrow so he created the most delicious breakfast frittata. The frittata featured crispy bacon, sliced zucchini, 5 scrambled eggs and some fresh seasonings. It was golden on top and the flavor coming from those fresh green veggies was amazing. We had marble rye toast on the side and some Caribou Coffee. What a truly inspiring way to start the day!

I must tell you about our dinner last night as well. It was easy to prepare in about 45 minutes and a great summer dish...even though it did not involve our barbecue. I realized this week that I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer and wanted to do something with it. I like to change-up our menus often so we don't get bored. I figured this was a good chance to do just that.

Pouring some chicken broth into the bottom of a long glass baking dish, I started to prep the pork. I also added cut chunks of onion and placed them in the broth at the bottom of the dish. I then put in my long strip of tenderloin (fat side up) and cut cross-marks in the top of the entire length of the meat. Then it was time to whip up a sauce that will bake into the top. I mixed up about a 1/4 cup of spicy brown mustard with a 1/4 cup of low sodium soy sauce. Then I poured whole peppercorns in and stirred together well. I brushed the mix on top of the pork and baked in the oven for approximately 40 minutes on 375 degrees. While that was cooking in the last 10 minutes, I roasted asparagus with olive oil and balsamic brushed on top and boiled some quick-cook couscous with parmesean seasoning. The result was tender, juicy pork with a kick to it. It was a great summer fix when you have a million things to do. Very little prep comes in handy sometimes.

Today will be a great food day. I'm attending a birthday bash and assisting the hostess with the menu. I'll be making my spicy turkey sliders, bleu cheese beef sliders and smoked salmon stuffed cucumbers (all previously posted recipes). Time to finish prepping now.

Happy July 4th to my readers. I hope your creativity will strike over a hot grill this weekend!