Finally!
I have been wanting to post something I have been working on for the past 5 days! But I had to keep it a secret until everything was finished and given away. I had this idea back in September to make a gift for my different groups of friends. I have the Monday night group, the Thursday night group, the high school friend group... just lots of groups. So I thought, what would be something simple to make for my friends, that would be fun, but sweet. Enter: CUPCAKES! I found these great Martha Stewart cupcake holders on clearance at Micheal's, so all i needed to do now was make the cupcakes. I decided on Butter Cake with Fudge Frosting, Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting and Chocolate cake with Cream Cheese frosting. Everyone got two of each flavor... fun and easy and sweet!
Also tonight, my Monday night ladies got together for a Christmas dinner. Megan got out her fun Christmas dishes
and we all shared a perfect meal of Hoisin Pork Loin, Green Beans, Orzo and French Bread. 
Along with yummy appetizers and delicious brownies. Megan graciously let me use her fancy crock-pot for the pork. My crock pot only sets high or low, while hers you can set to different cooking times, and then it turns to warm all on its own when the allotted time is up. I used a Rachael Ray recipe for the pork... so simple and easy. The meal was wonderful and it was great to sit and chat with some of my favorite girls! 
Merry Christmas!
Hoisin Pork Loin
Ingredients:
3lbs pork loin boneless
1 jar hoisin sauce (3/4 cup )
3 clove garlic smashed
2 tablespoons ginger -- grated fresh
1 tablespoons chili paste
1 tablespoons rice wine or rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 scallions -- white and green parts only sliced on an angle
1/3 cup cilantro -- chopped *(i didn't use these in my meal)
Put the pork loin in the slow cooker. Mix hoisin sauce, garlic cloves, ginger, rice wine, soy sauce and sesame oil. Whisk in corn starch then pour over pork. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove pork and let rest for 10 minutes. Pour cooking liquid into a bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. Skim any fat from the sauce.Slice the pork and arrange on a platter. Sprinkle the scallions and cilantro on top. Serve the Asian sauce on the side.
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