a story of nasel deformity and deliciousness

There is a kid in my singles branch who will go unnamed. Tonight I learned that at a dance he once left a girl on the dance floor in the middle of a song to go get a glass of punch. She cried. It was decided that the only possible excuse for this must have been that the girl had one nostril and he didn't realize until halfway through the song. This logic is flawless. It also inspired me to take this picture:

Do you think that simply having one nostril would cause an immediate abandonment on a dance floor? Let this picture guide your conscience.

On a more sensical note, I hosted dinner group tonight and made pork chops and they were actually amazing. Jared, who is a rather well-versed cook himself, said that they were the most delicious pork chops he had ever eaten. That made me happy. If you too wish to make a record-breaking meat meal, buy Williams-Sonoma The Kid's Cookbook and see page 71, or just follow the recipe below:

Baked Pork Chops with Apples

Ingredients:
4 red-skinned apples
1 T sugar
pinch of ground cinnamon
4 boneless porkchops
salt & pepper
2 T butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Cut apples into slices and pile into an 8 in square baking dish. (In the cookbook, because it's written for kids, it very specifically describes how to cut the apples into slices. I will spare you the details, but if you feel you need to brush up on your apple-cutting skills—or just love really delicious, simple recipes—I recommend you purchasing the book itself. It is one of my favorites.)
3. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon evenly over the apples.
4. Generously sprinkle both sides of the pork chops with salt and pepper. Tuck the chops into the pile of apples, rearranging the slices around them. Scatter the butter pieces over the tops of the pork chops and apples slices. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.
5. Bake for 40 minutes. Then remove the aluminum foil and continue to cook until the pork chops are lightly browned and the apples are tender, about 20 minutes longer.
6. When serving, scoop up the apples slices and the juices and place them around the chops.

Makes 4 servings.

I made this recipe successfully tonight for 6, by simply adding half the amount to the recipe (6 apples, 1.5 T sugar, 6 chops, 3 T butter) and baking it in a longer, rectangular Pyrex dish, so feel free to do the same.

PS I got asked out on a date tonight and it made me happy. Hopefully he won't see this one-nostriled picture of me until after our date next Friday...