Looking Back, Final Book, Internet Speed.

Stephen Tremp listed a few scientific occurrences of 2012 in his post at Blogging from A to Z Challenge on Thursday. Amazing how one forgets some of these items although at the time they seemed such major things. Whenever someone produces a list (they often do it in the Oscars) of well known people who died during the previous year, I am usually totally surprised although I was aware of the event when it happened. One thing Stephen reminded us of was the Higgs Boson which caused so much excitement when they first figured they had discovered it. I blogged about it at the time. It staggers me how easily these things slip away from one’s memory, maybe because one doesn’t need to remember it for any length of time. That’s my excuse anyway.

I got an email on Thursday reminding me that A Memory of Light will be published next week – for those of you who haven’t been following the Wheel of Time series, I guess you could say I have been waiting for this book for 20 years. I phoned the library to try and get on the waiting list early, much to my disappointment I ended up as 12th on the list. However, the librarian assures me there will probably be quite a few copies, I do hope so. I just looked it up on Amazon and its only going to be $20, that seems very inexpensive, I am surprised. Didn’t check on a Kindle version. I must admit I am very tempted to buy the book at that price. I have one or two of them, a couple in Kindle, one in hardback, the Kindle copies I got on special deal, the hardback because when I decided to re-read them all the library didn’t have that particular book.

Just learnt something which surprised me, do you know which country has the fastest average internet connection speed? It’s South Korea.

We watched The Karate Kid last night, haven’t seen it in years. It’s still a good movie. Wax on wax off has stuck in my mind and that of many others since the film was first shown in 1984. They were also showing the second one last night, but it went on pretty late and we are bowling today, first time since before Christmas. I know there is a remake, but I haven’t seen it. To me Pat Morita was the perfect Mr. Miyagi – I cannot see Jackie Chan in the part. I really wanted the karate instructor to get his comeuppance, but other than his students being beaten, he didn’t

We are always looking for recipes using pork tenderloin, or should I say Matt is. He usually buys beautiful looking tenderloins at Costco and then doesn’t find that many recipes. Here is one I will pass on to him.  Only ingredient we don’t have is chipotle.

Sweet and Spicy Pork Tenderloin

WebMD Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper
• 1  pork tenderloin, 11⁄4 pounds; trimmed of visible fat
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons hot-pepper sauce

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Lightly mist a small roasting pan or ovenproof skillet with olive oil spray. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine the cumin, cinnamon, salt, black pepper, allspice, garlic powder, and chipotle pepper.
4. Rub the pork evenly with the olive oil. Then rub evenly with the spice mixture until coated. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the honey, garlic, and hot-pepper sauce. Whisk to mix. Set aside.
6. Set a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until it is hot enough for a spritz of water to sizzle on it. With an oven mitt, briefly remove the pan from the heat to lightly mist with olive oil spray. Place the pork in the pan. Cook for 1 minute per side, or until browned on all sides.
7. Transfer to the prepared pan. With a basting brush, evenly coat the pork with the reserved honey mixture. Roast the tenderloin in the oven for 16 to 18 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the center reaches 160°F and the juices run clear.
8. Remove from the oven. Cover the pork loosely with aluminum foil. Let stand for 10 minutes. Transfer the pork to a cutting board. Holding a knife at a 45° angle, cut into thin slices. Serve immediately.

Have a great day