Miss Forgetful- 4/11/09

A few years ago, I ran into the sister of my college suite mate at an alumni function. One of the first things she said after I introduced myself was "Oh, you were the ditsy one!". Not exactly the compliment I was hoping for but on occasion, it is true. I don't mean to be a ditz, it just happens. I leave my coffee on the back of the car and run over it. I get flustered and forget my own phone number when leaving a message for a friend. And when I'm cooking, I forget to add ingredients, sometimes vital ones. I once added salt instead of sugar to a large vat of coleslaw when I worked at an ice cream stand in college. I realized my mistake before I served it to customers but that was a lot of wasted coleslaw.

Tonight I had decided to switch out the Herb-Roasted Pork Loin that was part of the Easter menu on page 76 in April's Gourmet with the Glazed Thyme-Honey Ham on page 33. The longer cook time allowed for the ham to be put in before Easter Mass tomorrow morning and left to cook while we were gone. I made the pork loin tonight instead but my uncle was an hour later than I expected him and my parents went to Alabama, forgot it was Central Time, and were two hours late getting back. (The ditz thing may be hereditary!) I finished the pork loin two hours before we sat down to eat and it was not until then that I realized I had not made the sauce to go with it. Instead of jumping up and making an already late dinner even later, we ate the pork loin without sauce. It was still excellent. The herbs flavored the pork nicely without over salting it and the garlic mustard oil kept it moist. I'm sure the sauce would have been a wonderful addition but I was pleased at how good the meat was without it.

I made the very simple Asparagus with Horseradish Butter on page 61 to go with the pork and it was also very good. The asparagus was simply oven roasted with oil but the horseradish butter added zing without an overpowering kick. It's a simple side dish that I will make again.

The most frustrating ditz moment came with dessert and I have no excuses. I made the Rhubarb Tart with Orange Glaze on page 56 and I flat out didn't pay attention. I didn't watch the tart and it burnt around the edges and I let the glaze boil too long and it got too dark. I couldn't do much about the tart. I had no more rhubarb so I just cut off the edges and served it with ice cream. I should have remade the glaze but I thought I could save it and tried to spread it on the tart. It was too thick and didn't spread so again, I just hid that part with ice cream. The tart was very thin and though the flavor was good, it was not substantial enough to be an impressive dessert, ditz or not.

Herb-Roasted Pork Loin- A-

Calories per serving-660

Asparagus with Horseradish Butter- B+

Calories per serving-153

Rhubarb Tart with Orange Glaze- C

Calories per serving-248