Tasty Tuesdays- Red edition

This Christmas season I've been super into the color red. Lately, food just doesn't taste as good to me if it's not red- or at least Christmas-y in some way.

This is one of our favorites. It is SO good and I love it around Christmas time because of the awesome red color. Add a green vegetable and it's perfect!

Roast Pork with Raspberry Sauce

1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. rubbed sage
1 t tsp. pepper
1 3 1/2 to 4 lb boneless pork loin roast
(I always use two 1.5ish lb tenderloins. I think they're a little more tender (hence the name) and cook faster. But they're also probably more expensive then a regular roast.

Sauce:
1 10oz pkg. frozen, sweetened raspberries, thawed
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. white vinegar
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 c. cornstarch
1 T. butter
1 T. lemon juice
3-4 drops red food coloring (opt.) I never do this...it's already very red?


Combine the salt, sage and pepper: rub over entire roast. Place roast fat side up on a rack in a shallow, roasting pan. Bake uncovered at 350 for 70 to 80 min (much less if you do the tenderloins- around 45 min) or until meat thermometer reads 160 degrees. For the sauce: Drain raspberries, reserving liquid. Set berries aside. Add enough water or apple juice to juice to measure 3/4 cup. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, spices and 1/2 c raspberry juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered for 10 min. Combine cornstarch and remaining raspberry juice until smooth; stir into saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 min until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, lemon juice, food coloring and raspberries. Serve with roast.

Cranberry Chicken

This is one of those super easy college recipes but I think it's still my favorite chicken and rice dish. At one of the cooking classes I learned a more gourmet version of this but it just wasn't nearly as good.

It smells up the whole house amazingly and again, is red.

5-6 chicken breasts
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1 8oz bottle Catalina French dressing
1 envl. onion soup mix
4 c. cooked rice

Mix cranberries, dressing and soup in large bowl. Dip chicken pieces in sauce then put them in 9x13 dish. Cover chicken with sauce. Bake at 350 for 40 min or until done. Serve over rice.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Danish

This is one of my favorite holiday deserts that my mom has made over the years. I made these for our friends for Christmas this year and it seemed like people liked them too. Brady wolfs an entire one down in a day but then, he eats everything that way.

3 oz. package of cream cheese
4 Tblsp butter
2 c. Bisquick
1/3 c. milk
1/2 c. Raspberry jam
1 c. sifted powdered sugar
1-2 Tblsp milk
1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Cut cream cheese and butter into Bisquick with a pastry cutter. Blend in 1/3 c. milk and knead 8-10 times on lightly floured counter top. Roll into 12x8 rectangle. Turn onto a backing sheet that has been covered with aluminum foil. Spread jam onto the center of rectangle all the way down. Make cuts with butter knife along sides- 2 1/2 inch. Pull each side over, alternating which side goes first. Press edges of top and bottom to seal. Bake at 425 for 12-14 min. or until golden brown. Drizzle the glaze all over back and forth. Glaze is the powdered sugar mixed with milk and vanilla. Let set until glaze has hardened a little. Serve with milk.

**I always make two danishes with this amount of dough. And I don't stick to the "rectangle measurements". Then I just eyeball the jam. I still use the same glaze recipe for each one.