How to Survive a Power Outage

There are way too many people on the East Coast who have gone without power recently. On the whole, I consider myself lucky! Others have gone much longer. The snow that hit the southeast recently took our electricity for nineteen hours. Nothing compared to the weeks some people suffered through after the hurricane. Still, when it happens to you, nineteen hours seems like forever. I feel guilty because I still don't see lights when I look across the way.

So here are my top four items for surviving a power outage, even if it's only for nineteen hours.


1. A cooktop. This is a Burton Portable Burner. It comes with cans of butane gas that click into place. Why is this number one? Because with a cup of hot tea or coffee (or four) in the morning, all the rest of the problems are so much easier to handle.

You can even heat dog food!

2. Little bottles of water -- a lot of them. I had leftovers from our power outage last summer and was getting annoyed because they were taking up so much room. I was mighty glad to have them when we lost power again. Makes brushing teeth and washing hands and pots do-able!

3. Ice cream. Everyone should always have ice cream in the freezer. The rule is that it must be eaten when there's a power outage -- because it will melt. It also makes you feel better.

4. One hidden box of cookies. A treat makes the long dark nights a lot sweeter.

And now that I have electricity again (and just let me say what a wonderful thing a hot shower is!) I had a lovely pork tenderloin in the fridge that I felt I had to cook.

Elizabeth's fruity chutney on Saturday made me crave a lovely sweet and salty meat. I stuffed the tenderloin with plump dried plums (okay, we all know they're prunes), and reduced some mango juice for a sauce. So simple, but it turned out well.

So the knife skewed to the side a little. Still pretty!

If you're not into mangos, use any kind of sauce you like, or skip the sauce altogether. The meat is tender and juicy and the simple seasonings on top are good by themselves.

Plum Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Mango Reduction

1 pork tenderloin
salt
pepper
garlic powder
8-10 dried plums (prunes)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups mango juice

Pour mango juice into a small pan and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook, uncovered, about 45 minutes, until it reduces by more than half, to about 2/3 or 3/4 cup.

Meanwhile:
Preheat oven to 400.

Slide a knife with a narrow blade into the center of the pork tenderloin. Use your finger (or the end of a wooden spoon with a round handle) to push the dried plums into the tenderloin. (The very end will be too thin, so just concentrate on the middle.)

Had to post this because mystery writers are fond of knives.

Sprinkle both sides of the meat with pepper, garlic powder and salt and rub it on meat.

Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof pan large enough to hold the entire tenderloin. Brown the meat on each side for 2-3 minutes. Place pan in oven and roast for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Drizzle with mango reduction to serve.