I really do know how to cook.

There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will.

~ Robert Frost

Sunday evening we had our family over for the dinner I had originally planned for New Year's Day but was too under the weather to fix. I fixed a pork roast, using the recipe I've added at the end of this blog. The roast fit perfectly into one of the few meager possessions I inherited from my mother, her enamel roasting pan. While it cooked I thought back to the countless meals my mother had prepared using this roaster. I always thought my mom was an incredible cook, but the mouth watering smell of the roast made me wonder if perhaps her secret had been the roaster.

When it came time for dinner, food was everywhere and after removing the roast to a carving board, I placed the pan back in the oven just to get it out of the way. This roast was perfect. I still don't know whether it was the marinade, the cut of meat, or the magical roasting pan. I was beginning to think my mother had kept this secret well guarded, and I secretly thanked my lucky stars that I, and not my sister, had managed to get the roaster.

Fast forward to Tuesday evening. I called Mark on my way home and asked him to preheat the oven so it would be hot when I got there. When I walked in the door I could tell he had followed my instructions and I headed to the bedroom to change clothes before I started supper. I was in the middle of changing when I heard Mark yell "We have a fire in the oven!" Image my horror when I ran to the kitchen to find my beloved roaster ablaze...Mark had heated the oven unaware that the roaster, full of drippings, was still in the oven. Now, let me clarify. I do not make a habit of hiding dirty pans in my oven. (Although I did go to a friend's New Year's Eve party where we found the turkey carcass from Thanksgiving still in the oven when someone wanted to heat up their appetizer.) If you recall, I mentioned hurting my back Sunday evening. Mark was kind enough to clean up and he swears he didn't know the roaster was in there.

After the fire was extinguished, I surveyed the damage and wanted to cry. Not because the roaster was beyond salvaging, after all I can easily replace it for under $10.00, but it was the connection to my mother that couldn't be replaced. I know it isn't the meat, the marinade, or the pan that makes a meal great. It's the love that goes into. That was my mother's secret all along. Cooking delicious meals was her way of showing us how much she loved us.

So here is the recipe, and don't forget the love.

Ingredients
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (4-pound) pork loin roast
1 cup barbeque sauce (optional- we don't think you need it)

Directions
In a small bowl, combine Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, honey, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, salt, celery seed, pepper, and garlic. Place pork loin roast in a large plastic resealable bag and pour marinade over pork loin. Seal and marinate in refrigerator for at least 4 hours (preferably overnight).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Remove roast from bag, place in a roasting pan, and discard marinade. Roast pork loin at 325 degrees F for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or to an internal temperature registers 160 to 170 degrees F. on an instant-read thermometer. Serve with BBQ sauce.