When I first looked through Friday Night Bites I had to laugh.  The concept behind the book is that instead of ordering take-out and collapsing in front of the TV on a Friday evening, as some families do, get your kids in the kitchen, prepare a great meal, and make a cool craft project.  Why did I laugh you wonder? Well, because even though I do cook most Friday evenings I barely have the energy to do that let alone add in some arts and crafts! But, I decided to mark a day on the calendar and give it a try. 

My girls are still pretty young, so I decided to find a menu and project that they would most relate to and it ended up being "Teddy Bear Picnic", because after all who doesn't like a Teddy Bear.  The menu consists of bear themed foods: Honey-Kissed Pork Tenderloin (see recipe below) and Baby Bear Claw Pastries.  The craft project was Teddy Bear Bonnets (my girls love hats) which uses many items that can be found lying around the house, at least at my house, such as buttons, feathers, and ribbons.

Karen Berman does a great job of breaking down the tasks for you in a list format to follow so that the idea of dinner and a project don't seem overwhelming. And she provides Friday Night Time Savers or shortcuts, useful tips that keep things moving along steadily so you can still get the kids off to bed at a decent hour.  Although I don't think you could tackle a "Friday Night Bite" every week, these ideas are a great way to get families back to the dinner table enjoying each others company and having fun.

Teddy Bear Bonnets and Boaters

From Friday Night Bites by Karen Berman, Running Press 2009.

Every well-dressed teddy bear needs a bonnet or a snazzy boater hat. Make one or more for the bears in your house!

• Safety scissors
• 1 paper plate for each hat (Use large or small plates depending on the size of the bear)
• 1 (2-foot) length of ribbon for each hat
• More ribbon for decoration, including striped grosgrain if you are making boaters for boy bears
• Small decorative flowers, fruits, birds, butterflies, colorful feathers, and buttons or other small decorations for bonnets
• 1 (2- to 3-inch wide) strip of oak tag (thin, flexible poster board) that is about 2 inches shorter in length than the circumference of your paper plate, for boater hats
• Small buttons, feathers, birds, bugs, team logos, or other decorations, for boater hats
• 1(5- to 6-inch wide) roll of tulle
• Craft glue
• Transparent or masking tape
  

If your paper plate has a design imprinted on it and you want it to be part of the hat, turn the plate "inside out" so that the design shows when you put the plate on the bear's head.

With the scissors, cut a slit in the plate about 3/4 inch to 1 inch long; position it where the curved rim of the plate ends and the flat center begins, about an inch or so from the edge of the plate. Make another slit directly across from it, so that you can insert the 2-foot ribbon into the slits and tie the plate onto the bear's head.

To make a boater, take the strip of oak tag and make a ring to fit the circumference of the flat inside part of the plate. Trim excess cardboard and tape the strip together securely to make a ring. Tape the ring to the plate from the inside. Glue the grosgrain ribbon to the bottom of the ring, where it joins the plate. Finish the hat by gluing on feathers, buttons or other decorations. Let it dry.

To make a bonnet, cut a length of tulle and tie it into a bow, leaving 6 to 8 inches of tulle for each of the bow's "tails". Glue to the back of the bonnet. If you wish, cut a length of tulle to make a veil that will hang over the front of the bonnet and glue it on. Decorate the hat by gluing the flowers, fruit, birds, butterflies, feathers, and other decorations to it. Let it dry. Or use your imagination and decorate your bear's hat any way you wish.

Honey-Kissed Pork Tenderloin

From Friday Night Bites by Karen Berman, Running Press 2009.

What's a bear's favorite flavor? Honey, of course. In this dish, honey is mixed with soy sauce and honey mustard to add a luscious sweet-savory dimension to the oh-so-tender tenderloin. The mixture begins as the marinade and ends up in the sauce. Just never use a marinade in which raw meat has been soaked as a sauce on cooked food; be sure to heat it to boiling once you remove the meat from it, or you run the risk of introducing food-borne bacteria to your cooked food. When you're shopping, look for a pork tenderloin that is not pre-marinated. You're making your own from scratch!

Makes 4 to 5 servings

• 2 to 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons honey mustard
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 (1 to 1 1/2-pounds) pork tenderloin
• 3/4 cup beef stock
• 1/2 teaspoon arrowroot
• Salt to taste (optional)
• Feshly ground black pepper to taste (optional)
  

Preheat the oven to 475F.

Place the garlic into a shallow nonreactive glass, ceramic or plastic container big enough to hold the tenderloin. Add the honey, soy sauce, honey mustard, and oil and mix until thoroughly combined.

Trim the pork tenderloin: With a sharp knife, peel off any silvery skin (it's called silverskin) and trim any fat. Place the trimmed tenderloin into the marinade and turn a few times to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight or a few hours‹or if time is short, while you prep the rest of the dinner.

When you are ready to cook, transfer the tenderloin to a roasting pan and roast for 10 minutes. Reserve the marinade, keeping it away from any raw food or utensils.

After 10 minutes, turn the tenderloin and carefully pour the marinade over it. Roast for 10 more minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into it reads 150 to 155F and the tenderloin is nicely browned on the outside and just slightly pink in the center.

Remove the tenderloin from the pan and place on a serving platter to rest. Deglaze the roasting pan by adding the beef stock and stirring to loosen any browned bits from the bottom. Pour the contents of the pan into a small saucepan, add the arrowroot, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens and reduces in volume enough to coat a spoon lightly. Taste and season with salt and pepper if you like.

Cut the tenderloin into round medallions and pour some of the sauce over them. Pour the remaining sauce into a serving bowl or gravy boat and pass at the table.

About Friday Night Bites

It’s time for some family fun with creative crafts and out-of-this-world meals, and you might even learn something, too! Take the whole gang on a trip through the imagination with food and activities for all ages, any old Friday night.

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