It never rains then it pours - easy rainy day recipes.

Yes! Thankfully we finally got rain!! Apparently, this has been the driest spring on record and I have almost driven myself nuts checking the weather app for incoming rain.  It's an old joke that the weatherman gets paid to do a job where he can be wrong 90% of the time, the weather app gets it wrong too!

The little blue dot that is our house has the rain clouds overhead and ITS NOT RAINING! Rain is always forecast for next week and then they take it away again, same in winter when it’s minus 30, they forecast minus 10 next week - always next week - I think its just to keep our spirits up in extreme weather conditions. I discovered how to make it rain - I put Carls boots outside lol!

Of course all the pigs decide to have their babies on the coldest or wettest days and we still have all the chores to do - it’s so much more fun in the mud! When we first moved here we had no idea what the weather was like so we were mending a fence in the pouring rain which caused raised eyebrows amongst our neighbours.  Why are you working outside in the rain? Why don’t you wait for a nice day we have lot of those? A Rain day in Saskatchewan is a day off but where we are from back in the UK nothing would get done if you didn’t work in the rain.

So its pouring down with over an 1.5” rain so far and a full day of rain ahead and I thought I better spend the day in the house and catch up on getting some meals in the freezer ready for the rest of summer. Anyway that plan went right out of the window when I had to use all my pans to catch the rain coming through the leaky roof!! I better order more pans! No not really - I did order some tin for the roof though - installing that will be a fun husband and wife job to look forward to!

So roof is ordered and it's down to some recipe researching and maybe a bit of experimenting with my 2 remaining pans and anything I can find in the cupboard.

I always have raw honey in the house - I use it every day in my spiced tea (recipe below). I don’t know if its my age or because I broke my hips (horse riding accident and another story) anyway I used to have to roll out of bed my joints were so seized and painful - I drink this spice tea everyday now and I can jump out of bed.

So I found a couple of recipes to try and share - I like the bbq sauce recipe as it needs no cooking and the jalapeno honey steaks are easy to make plus they have a bit of a kick - I was surprised at how Carl tucked into those - they didn’t even make it to the plate he ate them right out of the pan.- less washing up! Bonus!

Spiced Tea

• ½ teaspoon turmeric,

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

• raw honey to taste,

• hot water
  

  Put spices and honey in a large mug, fill with hot water and sip - I don’t drink the gloopy stuff at the bottom lol its not nice.

  Quick Glazed Pork Tenderloin

• 1 Cobblestone Farm Berkshire pork tenderloin

• 1 tsp ground allspice

• olive oil or pastured pork lard

  BBQ SAUCE

• 2 cloves garlic grated

• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

• ⅓ cup tomato ketchup

• 2 tbsp hp sauce

• 1 tablespoon raw honey

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tsp tabasco or hot sauce

• 3 tbsp apple or orange juice

  
  Score tenderloin lengthways and open it like a book then flatten it with your fist or a rolling pin.

  Rub with salt, pepper and allspice

  Put in frying pan with 1 tbsp of oil or pastured pork lard.

  After about 4 mins turn it over.

  Mix together all bbq sauce ingredients.

  When the tenderloin has a good crust on both sides transfer to a baking dish and cover with half the sauce.

  Put under broiler/grill until pork is cooked through (165 degrees internal temp)

  Serve with rice

Honey, Jalapeno Pork Steaks

• 2 Cobblestone Farm Berkshire pork steaks or chops

• Himalayan salt

• 4 jalapenos chopped and seeded (If you want extra kick leave some seeds in)

• ½ cup vodka

• 1 orange rind and juice

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 3 sprigs thyme

• ½ onion chopped

• 1/2 cup water or broth

• 2 garlic cloves grated

• ½ cup raw honey

• ⅓ cup white vinegar

Put oven on 350 degrees F

Put vodka and jalapenos in a bowl for 30 mins.

Season pork steaks with salt.

Mix honey, vinegar, garlic and orange rind and juice in a bowl.

Heat large pan on high - these steaks are large so you may need a roasting pan.

Add Pork, cinnamon stick, 1 sprig thyme  and fry 5 mins each side on med high heat

Add onion and fry till translucent

After jalapenos have been in vodka for 30 mins drain -(keep vodka for a spicy Caesar cocktail)

Add honey mixture, jalapenos and water or broth to pan and bring to boil.

Cover and place in oven for about an hour (until tender) - I cooked mine for 40 mins then reheated them for 30 mins before serving.

Serve with rice

I hope you enjoy trying these recipes and just for fun - Ketchup or HP? Which is your favourite on a breakfast sandwich - Carl is a HP and sausage butty guy.