i thought i hated meatloaf

I went for many years thinking that I hated meatloaf. I think it was because I had not tried this meatloaf. What? It doesn't look so great in the picture? Well, funny story about that. I did a sloppy job of taking it out of the pan yesterday, and it was all crumbled on the plate. I decided to take a picture of the leftover loaf instead and forgot. So there you have it - cold, morning-after meatloaf in a Tupperware container. Whatever. It's still GOOD! How good? My brother asked for a meatloaf for his birthday last year. :)

Anyway. This is by no means a healthy recipe. It is the tastiest meatloaf you'll ever try. We don't make it often. If you experiment and find a way to make it tasty and healthier, let me know and you can do a guest posting! :) I have not played around with it - but you should make the original first so you have something to compare to! Yes, I know the obvious choice is to substitute ground chicken/turkey and chicken sausage. I've never tried though!

Of course I got this recipe in my favorite cookbook - "The Bride and Groom's First and Forever Cookbook" by Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford.

2 teaspoons oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup ketchup, divided
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, divided
1 pound ground beef
8 oz. ground breakfast sausage
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 and 1/4 teaspoons Mrs. Dash seasoning mix
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat the oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender.

While the onion cooks...

Combine the milk and bread crumbs in a small bowl and set aside. Combine 1/4 cup ketchup and 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce in another small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, add the beef, sausage, the remaining 1/2 cup ketchup, the remaining 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, the egg, seasoning mix, garlic powder and bread crumbs. Add the onion when it's finished - mix (I like to hand mix because it's easier...) until just incorporated.

Transfer to a loaf pan (9-by-5-by-3). Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, pour of the fat, spread the ketchup mixture over the top, and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer reads 160 in the center. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

If you don't have an instant read thermometer, well... why not? They're cheap. You can buy one at Wal-Mart or Market Basket, and it takes all the guess work out of your cooking. You'll never overcook again. :)

a little off topic, but why not?

A slightly off topic post. Yesterday I took my Gram to the Parker House in Boston. She went there for the first time in 1944 on her honeymoon, and then again in 1945 when my Grandfather returned from WWII. She has not been back since.

I had to kidnap her a little bit, because had I told her where we were going I would have gotten an argument. I just said we were going to lunch - wear something pretty. She was totally excited when she found out where we were actually headed!

We had a delicious lunch - and were able to sit at table #40, the table where JFK proposed to Jackie. We took lots of pictures. A memorable day!

Pictured above? Gram sitting at the place she had martinis with my Grandfather in 1944.

chicken with a few hints

Chicken cordon bleu. Yum-o (as Rachael Ray would say). Basically this was my plan. I bought chicken cutlets, ham, and fontina cheese. We had some puff pastry in the freezer. I was going to grate the fontina, and layer the chicken, ham and cheese inside the puff pastry. A tip about puff pastry. When you use it, make sure to seal it back up nicely before putting it back in the freezer. Freezer burn makes icky pastry. Also. Make sure it defrosts entirely before trying to roll it out or you get broken pastry.

So, I tried to make it in a ramekin. I ended up serving half raw chicken to Dennis and had to put it back on the baking sheet to finish. :( After it was done, it was very good though, so don't let me ruin it for you. In the future, I'd make sure to dry the chicken and ham well - because there was a lot of moisture in the ramekin. Also - follow the tips for puff pastry success, namely the lack of freezer burn and the proper defrosting. Pockets would have been better.

PS - I cleaned the house today! Yay for vacation! All that's left is the upstairs bathroom because I totally hit the wall and could not clean another square inch. It will have to wait until tomorrow!

PPS - I'm taking Grammy to a very special lunch tomorrow... more details to follow! I'm totally excited!

roasted chicken smells like home

There's something about roasted chicken that makes your house smell homey. :)

Last night I made a small roasted chicken and vegetables. It's not that hard to make, and delicious!

First of course you have to clean your little bird. Ours was a little over 4 pounds, so it was pretty tiny. Don't forget to remove the little presents inside the cavity. The key to a crispy outside to your chicken is to dry it after you wash it.

Take 4-6 garlic cloves (depending on size and how much you like garlic) and smash them with either a meat tenderizer or the side of a large knife. Put them in the center of your roasting pan. Put the chicken on top of the garlic.

Stuff the cavity with fresh herbs. This makes the meat soooo tasty! I used sage, thyme, and a lemon half. It's really about what you like, or what you have on hand... and don't be shy about the herbs or you won't notice them. I used a handful of each. (Some markets will sell you "poultry bouquets" of fresh herbs, usually featuring sage, rosemary and thyme.)

For veggies I peeled two carrots and cut them into 1 inch pieces, two red potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces, and pearl onions. You could use a whole onion if you want - just cut it up into pieces - but I saw these and decided to try it. The idea of peeling all those mini onions making you want to cry? Don't be sad! Get a small saucepan and fill it with hot water, then set it to boil. It should heat up while you're cutting the carrots and potatoes. Toss the onions in the boiling water and leave them there for about a minute. Dump them into cold water. Snip the end off, and the squeeze the onion out of the skin. It pops right out.

Melt some butter and brush the bird all over. Use the rest of the butter to toss with the veggies. Spread the veggies around the bird. I sprinkled the bird and veggies with some herbs de provence (thanks, Mom!) , salt and pepper.

The whole thing goes in the oven for 45 minutes. After that, take it out of the oven and tip the bird on the side to pour out any juices from inside the cavity. Move your veggies around - don't worry if a few are stuck, we'll deal with that later - and baste the bird.

Back in the oven for 15 minutes at a time. Baste in between and check the temp. of the thigh. When you've reached 170-175 degrees you're done. Side note, when checking the temp. of a chicken or turkey make sure you're checking in the dark meat - thigh - because it cooks slower than white meat. When you tip your chicken over, the juices should run clear. For my little bird, I only needed 30 more minutes.

Take the bird out of the pan and put it on a plate to rest. Scoop the veggies into a bowl. I used a little white wine to deglaze the roasting pan. I like to carve the chicken and cut it into bite sized pieces. I add the chicken to the bowl of veggies, the veggies you were able to scrape off the bottom (they look burnt, but they are not - they are tasty), and some of the wine/juice.

breakfast for dinner

OK, just a quick post. What do you do when you have nothing for dinner? Well, you do breakfast... and you and your husband remember how much you love having breakfast for dinner.

Pictured: OJ in fancy glasses. Pancakes with various toppers, since we were out of syrup - different jams, and of course, honey. Scrambled eggs and cheese with pepperoni mixed in. (We had made pizza recently and they were in the fridge begging to be used.) The bread things sticking out of the bowl are these lite multi-grain pita things we found at the store. They were intended for sandwiches, but I toasted them.

So there you go. Quick. Easy. Delicious.

blue cheese- stuffed chicken with buffalo sauce

Another new favorite from "Cooking Light".

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon reduced-fat sour cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 (6-oz.) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup flour 2 tablespoons milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, divided
6 tablespoons finely chopped drained bottled roasted red bell peppers
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine blue cheese, sour cream, lemon juice, and pepper a small bowl. Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff cheese mixture evenly into pockets.

Place flour in a shallow dish. Combine milk and egg in a shalow dish, stirrin well with a whisk. Place panko in a shallow dish. Working with 1 chicken breast half at a time, dredge chicken in flour, then dip in egg mixture, dredge in panko. Repeat for each piece of chicken.

Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter to pan. Swirl until butter melts. Arrange chicken in pan and cook for 4 minutes or until browned (don't turn too early or you won't get a crust!!). Turn chicken over and place skillet in oven. Bake for 20 minutes.

While chicken bakes, combine remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons butter, bell peppers, water, Worcestershire, and garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Cook until butter melts. Remove from heat, stir in hot sauce. Serve sauce with chicken.

Yield: 4 servings. Calories: 392 Fat: 12.9 g. Carb: 18.5 g. Fiber: 1.1 g.

I served it with mashed potatoes. Very easy to make. I boiled some potatoes, mashed them, added milk, butter, and garlic powder. Also pictured are brussel srouts. They were disgusting, mostly because I hate brussel sprouts. Dennis liked them.

my dad will be so proud...

My Father is an amazing gardener. This is a combination of green thumb, enjoying working outside, and his particular nature. His yard is always incredibly groomed, from lawn to the several gorgeous flower beds throughout the yard.

Although I have many of my Dad's traits, I do not think that the green thumb is one of them. I've killed every houseplant I've ever owned. A year ago we had 3 plants on the bay window in the sunroom. They're all dead. The last one got thrown away this morning - according to Dennis, Tommy tried to take a bite of the brown dried leaves and started gagging until he coughed them back up.

In college Dennis gave me flowers. I put them on my desk and left them there until the water turned murky brown and smelled like rot. The petals all fell off.

Dennis is no better. He had a plant on his desk at work named "lettuce". He watered it constantly and eventually it got bugs. His solution? Spray it with Windex. It killed the bugs, also - lettuce.

Every fall I decide to plant a beautiful mum in this giant pot and put it on the front steps (first at our N. Andover apartment, then at our house). I obviously can't be bothered to water the damn thing and by Halloween it turns into a pot of dead mum - and it usually haunts our front steps until the snow flies.

Last summer Dad came over because (surprise surprise) some of our flower beds were getting out of control.

But first - here's the layout. Our yard is divided into 4 basic flower areas.

This is next to our kitchen door. My plan is to get rid of this grass in front of the bed. I want to plant some colorful annuals, plus, it's a pain to mow.


The front of the house. This is one of the areas Dad had to fix. It was covered in weeds, and these ugly pine bush things. We (Dad) dug up the ugly pine things and planted these cute dwarf pines. Apparently they never have to be trimmed - score! Side note... under the ugly pine things was a massive nest of bees. We (Dad) got stung many many times.

This is an area we call "the circle". It's full of day lilies. A year ago it was also filled with weeds almost as tall as me. (I'm not short.) Dad fixed it, pulling the weeds and spreading bark mulch. Now it's lovely.


OK. Below is what will make him proud. I edged the fourth area (surrounding the deck). I played a little game called "weed or flower?" and pulled what I believed to be weeds. I put a nice edge in and hopefully it stays beautiful all summer!