Day 1 of 12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Peanut Butter Blossoms

So I'll start ya'll off with an easy one and one of my favorites. Peanut Butter Blossoms. The yummy tastiness of sugar-coated peanut butter cookies with Hershey Kisses. I have tried it with several different types of peanut butter cookie recipies (and will continue to try more) but this one is my favorite.

Step One: Buy this (well, maybe not the 12 pack unless you have an unhealthy love for peanut butter cookies or you may need to make a lot for a charity bake sale or something which is much healthier and way better for the world unless the charity is for people who cannot eat sugar or gluten and then you are just mean.)


Mix according to directions. You will need water, vegetable oil and an egg. Roll into balls, heh, then roll in a bowl of this (probably about 1/4 cup):





While the cookies are baking, peel and try not to eat a lot of these:

When the cookies are done, as soon as you take them out of the oven, put a kiss (the chocolate kind or you will burn your mouth) on each cookie. Oh, the simple goodness.

Now, for your complimentary healthy meal to balance out the one cookie you are going to have before giving the rest away.

Pork Tenderloin with Blackberry Ketchup. The first time I had this was in law school. A friend and I went out to a nice restaurant instead of the usual student eateries we normally frequented. The restaurant was in or near the old Claussen's Bakery building on Greene Street in Columbia. We are talking circa 1998. They served this dish with mashed potatoes and probably some sort of vegetable. I looked around for years for the recipe for the blackberry ketchup and finally found it in a sauce cookbook, go figure. There are versions online but the ones I saw called for fresh blackberries and I just don't have that kind of time. This version calls for one very easy to open jar of blackberry jam. My one bit of advice is to make the blackberry ketchup in the morning or early afternoon so your house has a lovely smell the rest of the day. It does reheat nicely in the microwave.

Blackberry Ketchup:

1 jar (10 to 12 oz) blackberry jam

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

pinch of cloves

1/2 tsp salt

pinch of pepper to taste

Combine all of the above in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. Serve immediately or refrigerate after it cools a bit.

Prepare the pork by cutting off all the fatty bits. Give it a nice massage of salt, pepper and ground sage. If you are out of sage, like I am tonight, sprinkle some garlic powder and/or onion powder. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until it looks done (maybe just a hint of light pink in the middle). Drizzle blackberry ketchup over sliced pork and serve with your favorite healthy side. Tonight was a bit of lima beans and a salad. Would also go nicely with a sweet potato. And of course mashed potatoes. You will amaze your friends! At least I amaze myself when I eat it.