Peach and Mustard-Glazed Pork Tenderloin

1/2 cup peach preserves

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 pork tenderloin (about 3/4 pound each)

1. Mix all ingredients except pork. Place pork in resealable plastic food-storage bag or shallow glass or plastic dish. Pour preserves mixture over pork; turn pork to coat with preserves mixture. Seal bag or cover dish and refrigerate at least 1 hour but no longer than 8 hours, turning pork occasionally.

2. Heat oven to 450 degrees.

3. Remove pork from marinade; reserve marinade in 1-quart saucepan. Place pork in shallow roasting pan. Insert meat thermometer so tip is in thickest part of pork.

4. Bake uncovered 25 to 30 minutes or until thermometer reads 155 degrees. Cover pork with aluminum foil and let stand 10 to 15 minutes, brushing once with reserved marinade, until thermometer reads 160 degrees. (Temperature will continue to rise about 5 degrees, and pork will be easier to carve.)

5. Heat marinade to boiling. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Cut pork into slices. Serve with marinade.

Chris and I really want to start entertaining more often in our home. I'm good with appetizers, salads, bread and side dishes for the most part. Meat intimidates me a bit. If it's ground beef or sausage I'm good. But actually cooking a piece of meat for someone other than myself or Chris makes me nervous. I found this recipe for pork and thought it sounded really easy and I think pork is usually pretty forgiving.

We were having my parents and brother over for dinner because Matthew hasn't seen our house and we wanted to spend time with him before he reports back. I thought this was as good a time as any to try the new dish and impress with my culinary skills!

Chris assures me that the pork tenderloin was tasty. I didn't try it. Why? you ask. Note in step 3 that it instructs you to insert meat thermometer. I followed the step. I always follow the steps.

To my detriment.

My mom could smell something burning but I didn't notice. Chris made a joke about my Mom recognizing the smell of burn. The pork was almost done so I went ahead and checked the oven. This is what I found.

The thermometer exploded. We didn't know if it contained mercury or not and after much discussion decided not to risk it. So we tossed the dish and Chris and my brother went to get a bucket at KFC. The chicken was fine and my salad and the bread were exactly like they were supposed to be. But the pork. Ohhh, the pork.

The pork was beautiful. And like I said, Chris said it tasted good. I'll try it again next week sans the thermometer.