Nana's Anise Cookies

A guest post from my friend V, who continues the family tradition of making these Italian Christmas treats each year. They have a very strong licorice flavor!

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp anise extract
1 TBSP baking powder
2 1/2 c flour

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and extract. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Roll cookies into shapes with hands. Bake at 350 for approximately 10 minutes until light brown.


Glaze:
1/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp anise extract
water if needed
nonpareil sprinkles :)

Dip the cookies into the icing and then into nonpareil sprinkles.

Air-fried Pork Chops

This is a guest post from my friend V:

I had thin sliced pork (7 slices to the pound instead of 4), so it came out a bit dry. Next time, I'll remember to cook it less :) I used Trader Joe's Garlic Aoli Mustard (no Dijion) and it tastes really yummy!

Ingredients
1 pound pork loin chops
24 tsp (1/2 cup) Dijon mustard
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Canola oil spray

Directions
Slice pork into four 4-oz. portions.
Thickly coat pork chops with Dijon mustard (you may not need all of the mustard). In a shallow bowl, combine bread crumbs and seasonings. Dredge pork chops in crumbs. Arrange pork chops on a wire rack set on top of a sheet pan. Spritz bread crumb coating with a little bit of oil spray. Place under broiler and cook on both sides until coating is brown, about 5 minutes on each side.