Pomegranate Blueberry (Raspberry) Sorbet

After those pork chops the other day, I had about half a container of blueberries left over that I needed to somehow use. Those combined with the left over pomegranate juice from the Berry Chai Infusion made the perfect sorbet.

To make this, combine 1c of water with 1/2c of sugar and boil until the sugar dissolved. Chill until cold, about 1 hour, then combine with 2c pomegranate juice, 1/4c lemon juice, and 1T raspberry extract. Chill again (or chill the additional juices before adding). Pour into ice cream maker and freeze according to instructions. About 5 minutes before finished, add in 1/2c blueberries.

I wish this had scooped better, but what was lacking in consistency was more than made up for with taste. This sorbet is super tart and tangy, and a great snack for dessert or just a quick refreshment.

Pork Chops with Blueberry Sauce

When I saw a picture of this on Love & Olive Oil, my mouth literally started watering. I'm not a pork chop person by any means - I've never cooked them before and they were always my least favorite meal when my mom made them. They always just seem so dry and chewy. Not my thing. But these... something about the blueberries in the sauce peaked the interest of my sweet tooth.


The original recipe called for boneless pork chops, but those weren't looking so great in the store so I went with the bone-in version. Probably not the best choice. As usual, these were very dry and I could barely eat them. Even the sauce didn't make up for it - way too buttery for me. I'm not going to blame the recipe, but rather the cook. It just looked so promising that I think I might have to try it again with a few tweaks - boneless meat and less butter for sure.

Pork Chops with Blueberry Sauce

(from Love & Olive Oil)

4 boneless pork chops

1/2c red wine

1/2c blueberries

2T butter

1 shallot, finely diced

1/4c water

1/2 of a lemon (zest and juice)

fresh parsley, chopped

(1) Preheat the oven to 425.

(2) Season both sides of the pork chops with salt and pepper.

(3) Brown the pork chops, 1-2 minutes per side, in a skillet with about 1T olive oil.

(4) Place the pan with the pork chops in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

(5) Heat about 1T olive oil in another skillet and saute the shallots until golden brown.

(6) Add wine and water to skillet and boil down, about 2 minutes.

(7) Add the blueberries.

(8) When the blueberry skins begin to burst open, add the lemon zest and juice.

(9) Continue to boil until thick, then take off heat and stir in the butter and a pinch of salt.

(10) Serve sauce over pork chops, garnished with parsley.

Football sugar cookies

That Steelers loss the other week hurt. (Didn't hurt too much since they didn't exactly play well, but it still hurt.) I made these cookies for the big game, and was really happy with how they came out.

Once again, I used this sugar cookie recipe. I cut the cookies into jersey and football shapes. For the royal icing, I added in 1/2t of lemon extract to liven up the flavor. Once the outline icing was ready, I separated out two small bowls of it (for the lettering), and divided the rest between two larger bowls. Using the small bowls and food coloring gel, make one bowl yellow and one bowl white. In the larger bowls, dye one bowl brown and one black.

For the jersey cookies:

Once dry (overnight), use the yellow and white icing to write in player names and numbers, and to decorate the arms of the jerseys.

For the football cookies: 

Thin the icing, then used it to flood the cookies.

Once dry, use the white icing to decorate the stitching.



And if you're a Steelers fan (or just a football fan in general), check out this post from Bakerella. So amazing I was speechless.