Pork Chops with Apples and Onions

About a month ago, my friend Sunny had a birthday. She and I, as well as our friend Julie, are firm believers that no woman should have to cook dinner on her birthday. So Julie and I made her dinner. It didn't actually end up being on her birthday because she went out with family. So she didn't cook anyway. But, this was our way of helping her celebrate. Planning birthday menus is fun, if laborious. I always want the meal to be special, so casseroles don't cut it, and it has to be delicious to the birthday person. We knew Sunny doesn't love Italian food, which ruled out a lot of my "special" meals, and we knew that she doesn't like curry or spicy foods, which ruled out some of Julie's favorites. (I promise, she's not as picky as she sounds right here!) So we brainstormed and then found a recipe for really tender pork chops on Mel's Kitchen Cafe. That was it. Julie put it together and made some potatoes and I baked breadsticks. The one thing I knew was that this dinner had better incorporate homemade bread in some form because Sunny does not bake but LOVES homemade bread. She is a jill of all trades (she replaced Julie's toilet once) and prefers repayment in the form of baked goods. We, of course, are happy to oblige. We also made molten chocolate cakes which ended up being not so molten, but still yummy. But the pork chops.

No idea what to make for dinner...try marinated pork chops!

Sometimes when I don't know what to make for dinner (even though I've already laid a menu for the week...) I come up with great ad-libbed dinners. Other times, I just don't cook and we eat toast. Hey, just keeping it real.

Last week, I came up with something good. I have no idea where the idea came from, because it's really just a basic marinade with an Asian twist. It's probably a simplified conglomerate of many recipes I have read over the years. But it did the job! The sauce was pretty rich; next time, I'd dilute it before thickening it. Don't get me wrong; it was good, just strong. The best part is, you probably have all the ingredients in your refrigerator!