Crackpot Tuesdays

Mr. M has been trying to decide what to pick that is a crackpot dinner for WEEKS! He is by far my pickiest eater. That boy would come to me over and over telling me he'd finally found something that looked edible to him only to have me start laughing and tell him to try again.......99.9% of his selections were desserts.

Now, you know me. I'm cool with dessert for dinner but if all I posted were crackpot desserts then you'd all be turning me into the children's protective services so I have to make it appear that I am making The Natives well rounded wholesome meals.


Photo by Taste of Home


Mr. M was beginning to think he'd never find a main dish that didn't look completely disgusting. After the desserts he wandered into the side dishes. That is when we compromised. He found Funeral Potatoes and I didn't have the heart to turn him down yet again so I told him we'd do the funeral potatoes if he'd try one more time to find a main dish. Side note, funeral potatoes. Are LDS the only ones to serve these at a funeral? If this is the case would y'all do me a huge favor? I like cheesy potatoes and all.....but when I die forgo the ham and cheesy potatoes. I want a huge dessert bar full of chocolate! Thank you. Now.......moving on....Well not moving on as in moving "on"....just moving onto the next paragraph......


Photo by Taste of Home

Mr. M looked through all of the photos and found a meat entree that looked to be about the plainest he could possibly find. No green stuff! He chose: Cranberry Pork Roast When I served it for dinner with gravy, Mr. M wanted to know where that came from because he didn't see it in the photo! He was a good sport and tried it and here is our review:

I blew it. The jury is still out and we have to try it again to give it a fair trial. At this point the highest was three stars. The gravy tasted like syrup. Syrup on meat......not our favorite.

When I was making the roast which by the way.......the meat was fabulous. Very tender, it didn't cross my mind when the recipe called for cranberry juice that cranberry juice mixed with other juices would be sickeningly sweet! Ever since my kidneys decided to throw a tantrum a few weeks ago I've been getting acquainted with cranberry juice. One problem. Cranberry juice by itself is enough to turn your mouth inside out so I get the mixed stuff. Cran-grape, cran-apple, cran-chocolate......kidding on the last.....do they make that mix? Because I'd buy it!

So, the recipe calls for cranberry juice and I pour in my sickeningly sweet cran-mix and don't think twice about it......until later when we're all having syrup on our meat.

Another side note. The recipe calls for corn starch to thicken the gravy. I'm not a corn starch fan and I remembered why last night. I prefer flour for thickening gravies. Last night I used corn starch and BLECK! I can taste it and I can feel a grainy cornstarch texture on my tongue as I'm eating.

There you have it. Our not fair trial on the poor cran. pork roast. I dare say with the reviews it got on Taste of Home all being 5 stars that we need to try it again.......this time with naked cranberry juice and flour for a thickener.....

A very positive note for this recipe. It was easy peasy and FAST. I like that. A lot!