30 minutes starts now!

So something a little strange happened the other night. I was preparing dinner and the doorbell rang. Ugh. Solicitors. Of course my first born raced to the door so I couldn't feign not being home and I felt like I had to answer the door. It was two young men from the inner city who were selling the magazine subscriptions, you've seen them before, right? So some of you may be thinking to yourself, "This is the time you just tell them that you're not interested and politely remind them soliciting is against one of the many statutes of our fine community." Unfortunately, I sometimes seem to have a hard time being direct in saying "no."

Anyway, when I told them I was fixing dinner, they asked if I might have any extra. Ha, ha, ha, funny joke, right? No, they were serious. Subscriptions I could not purchase, but my husband and I figured we could come up with something to feed them. Of course we had just polished off the sandwich fixings earlier that day, so it was going to take a little bit of inventiveness. I had Jay tell them to come back in 30 minutes and we'd have something to feed them. What commenced was a very frantic raid of the kitchen. This is what I came up with:

Of course it didn't look like that, though. This was frantic remember???
If we're being truthful, it looked exactly like this:

Slap, slap, slapped together.

The lesson of this is twofold:
First: Even when you don't think you have anything to come up with a fast, easy meal, you probably do and you really can do it!

Second: And somehow, when I agreed to feeding these guys, what was running through my head is the story in Genesis 18 where Abram has a divine appointment with some visitors (check it out!). It's possible that their knocking on the door right at dinnertime was just an inconvenient coincidence. But then again, I'm not sure that I believe in coincidences. Regardless, it was a reminder to me that I can show hospitality in some small way to everyone who crosses my path (especially at dinnertime).

Oh, and this was actually done in about 20 minutes!

Sweet and Tangy Grilled Pork Quesadillas
serves two hungry fellows

2 boneless pork chops
Canadian Steak Seasoning
4 tortillas
2 Tablespoons apricot jam
2 Tablespoons brown mustard
1 cup shredded cheese (I used a Mexican blend)
chopped cilantro (this was just used in the pretty, re-made version)

Sprinkle seasoning on both sides of pork chops and grill 3-5 minutes on both sides, or until cooked to about medium-well. Remove from heat and allow to rest for a few minutes.

While pork chops are cooking, stir together jam and mustard. Set aside.

Lay one tortilla in a large skillet over medium high heat. Spread about a tablespoon of the jam mixture on the tortilla and sprinkle with about 1/4 cup of cheese. Allow the cheese to start melting while the tortilla is still open-faced. Slice pork into small strips. Sprinkle on top of melting cheese. If you like cilantro, this is a nice time to sprinkle some of that over the quesadilla as well! Use a spatula to fold the quesadilla in half. Remove from heat and keep warm in a 200 degree oven. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Slice into wedges and serve!

Note: Hopefully, (if you don't do this already) this should open up a whole world of quesadilla options for you! Feel free to substitute different meats, cheeses and fillings. You can use the mustard-jam option with deli ham, cheese and thinly sliced pear or apple. We're particularly fond of spreading pesto sauce, using deli turkey, fresh spinach, slices of red bell pepper and Italian cheese blend.

Once you've experimented, please let me know what your favorite combination is so we can try it out too!