Marinated Cucumbers

I love cucumbers! I love them straight out of the refrigerator sliced up all by themselves. I love them in salads. And I especially love them as pickles! My grandma has made this as a side dish before and I love it because it involves dill so it comes out nice and tangy. I had never made it before until last night and I can't figure out why. It was so simple to make and oh so good.

Ingredients:

• 4 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 2 tablespoons chopped dill
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• dash pepper

Directions:

1. Combine sliced cucumbers with all other ingredients; cover and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours before serving.
   

Marinated cucumbers recipe serves 4-6.

I used just plain white vinegar since the recipe didn't specify what kind to use and I used dried dill weed instead of freshly chopped. Also, I peeled the cumber before slicing it--normally I like to eat the skin but when I've had this made for me the cucumbers have been peeled. Also, I combined everything but the cucumbers first and then poured it over the cucumbers before stirring it all around.

Autumn Harvest Pork Loin

Makes: 4-6 servings

Prep. Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 5-6 hours

Ideal Slow Cooker Size: 5-quart

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cider or apple juice
• 1 1/2 to 2-lb. pork loin
• salt
• pepper
• 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
• 1 1/2 whole butternut squashes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp. dried sage

Directions:

1. Heat cider in hot skillet. Sear pork loin on all sides in cider.
2. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper on all sides. Place in slow cooker, along with juices.
3. Combine apples and squash. Sprinkle with sugar and herbs. Stir. Place around pork loin.
4. Cover. Cook on Low 5-6 hours.
5. Remove pork from cooker. Let stand 10-15 minutes. Slice into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
6. Serve topped with apples and squash.

This turned out okay. Rocky said that I could make it again. I love that I can put stuff in the crock pot when I come home on my lunch break and have dinner ready when I get home! I served this with rice that I put in the cooker once I got home.

I didn't have any sage so I didn't use that and instead of butternut squash I substituted some other member of the gourd family that a customer at work brought me. The pork turned out moist and I liked the flavor that the apple juice mixed with the flavors of the brown sugar and apples added to it. This is definitely an autumn-y type dish and was super fragrant. I wasn't a huge fan of the apples as they got super mushy from being cooked down and I think that even just 1/4 tsp of cinnamon was too much. All in all, though, not bad.