It's officially cold. Time to stay inside and bake.

Nothing like a 39 degree day with blustery winds and sleet to make you want to stay inside and bake/cook. Tonight I'm making pork tenderloin with a really nice cranberry raisin white wine butter sauce. I had this once at a restaurant here in Columbus (Riverside - which, sadly, closed a month ago!) and fell madly in love with the recipe. I sweet talked the waiter a bit in the hopes of wheedling the recipe out of the chef, but no dice. So, I attempted to recreate it myself, and seem to have captured it.

You simmer dried cranberries and golden raisins in apple cider with a little bit of white wine until plump and tender. Use enough liquid so that it doesn't completely evaporate when you simmer the fruit. When the sauce has thickened, add a few tablespoons of unsalted butter and wisk gently. You'll end up with a silky smoothe compote to ladle over the top of the pork loin slices, which you have sauteed separately in another pan. If you have an orange or lemon handy, zest it over the top, and voila! A beautiful and tasty fall entree. I'm serving it tonight with oven-roasted asparagus and rolls.

For dessert we're having strawberry shortcake. I've had these strawberries in the fridge for alost a week now, and have been uninspired. Therefore in order to use them before they rot, I'm going to whip up a quick shortcake and top with the usual whipped cream from a can. I prefer the following shortcake recipe, but since I don't have fresh lemons to zest, they won't be quite the same. See what you think.

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Lemon Shortcakes for Strawberry Shortcake

2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon peel and salt in large bowl. Whisk buttermilk and melted butter in medium bowl to blend. Add to flour mixture and stir just until moist dough forms. Drop 8 dough mounds (about 1/3 cup each) onto nonstick baking sheet. Using lightly floured hands, gently pat biscuits into neat 2 1/4-inch-diameter round about 1 1/4 inches high. Bake until biscuits are golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Cut warm biscuits in half horizontally. Place bottom halves of biscuits on 8 plates. Spoon strawberries generously over, allowing some berries and juices to spill onto plates. Add whipped cream. Place top halves of biscuits over and serve.

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That's all for now. Stay warm, my pretties.