My Mama's Meatlof = Heaven

I realize I have been writing a lot about cooking lately.  I love it, it is my art, and I am very passionate about it.  This comes from a long line of great cooks in my family (forgive my inability for humility).  My grandmother was a Home Economics major and an incredible cook (Man I wish that would have been available for me and not entirely politically incorrect!).  She still verbally spouts off recipes from memory when I visit her that she would be excited for me to try.  My Mom is STELLAR in the kitchen, my Daddy has become very talented especially in the seafood variety, and my sister is an impeccable cook too, not to mention a fantastic restaurant reviewer (see southernpalate.blogspot.com).  We are all way to committed to true ingredients and not cutting fat corners, this shows on our hips but also on our lips through the delectable smiles we have after tasting this food! 

I have been promising Ben for some time now that I would make him my Mom's meatloaf recipe.  He was probably getting tired of all that chicken pot pie I as making, not that he didn't like that too!  So last night I took about 2 hours and whipped  up the meatloaf.  I had almost forgotten how incredible it was to grow up with this food.  I share this with you today!  You are welcome to make it in your own homes but remember, it's my Mama who deserves the credit!

Mama's Meatloaf or Baby, We Could Talk All Night But That Ain't Getting Us Nowhere

 ~ Edited slightly by Libby...

1 lb. lean ground beef (small meatloaf) 1.5 for medium, 2 lb. for large one. If you have fatty meat, it will cook down too much & be too greasy as well.  The following ingredients are for the small meatloaf, adjust accordingly for medium & large. I usually make the large, split it in two cook both in two small ceramic or Pyrex bread pans & keep the second one for cold meatloaf sandwiches with mayo. . .mmmmm! Or you can freeze it for later.

If your meatloaf mix won't fit into your pan, but there isn't enough for a second one, make meatballs. Fry them or bake them on a cookie sheet until brown or freeze for later. Cover cooked meatballs with Campbell's mushroom soup. . . mmmmm!  Add mushrooms, preferably fresh (but sauteed first). This is a good party dish when you have to take a hot hors d'oeuvre. But I digress. . .more meatloaf ingredients.

PREHEAT oven to 350.
 

1 medium onion

2 C. crushed crackers Ritz is good, I use Club crackers (rectangular buttery ones) generic is fine. An alternative is Quaker oats but NOT instant ones or the meatloaf will be too mushy

1-2 eggs I use one but if it seems dry or isn't sticking together, add another. I never use more than two. Or you can add 1/4 cup of milk.

Mix in these ingredients:
         
                

garlic powder to taste

salt & pepper to taste

Tony Chachere's to taste

Optional: oregano, basil, or any herb you like, or not. Parmesan cheese, Velvetta cheese, but not regular cheese, unless you want to melt it on top. It sort of curdles in the meat loaf & makes an unpleasant texture.
 

Bake in a bread pan in a 350 degree oven. Small about 1 - 1.5 hr.  Cover top with two layers of foil.  Last 20 min takes the foil off.  Last 5-10 minutes add the sauce (see below).

If you make meatballs you can also sink them into this sauce for a hot hors d'oeuvre, instead of using the mushroom soup.
 

One cup ketchup, at least

At least 2 Tablespoons of regular yellow mustard; I use about a 1/4 cup. This is to taste but you want it to be tangy.

One cup brown sugar, to taste.
 

This sauce is really sweet as well as tangy. You should really make a double batch, pour half over the meatloaf in the last 10 minutes or so of cooking, then use the rest for dipping as you eat it or for the meatballs if you make them.  Serve with a salad & if you dare, or want to splurge, mashed potatoes or baked potatoes or MAC AND CHEESE!.

My Mother's 9/11

Aftermath
When they fell
We rose up.
They fell on an island,
Now priceless
Once bought with beads.
In a war den,
Five sided,
And on a simple, empty field.

Though I hear their names,
There are too many to remember.
How can it be possible,
That I know not even one
Of so many who fell.

Yet I will never forget their faces,
Shining out from tacked-up photos,
Or the faces of the broken-hearted
Searching, hoping.
Will they ever heal?
And the faces of the children
Innocent, unknowing,
Or knowing too much.
The faces of those offering aid
Any sort of rescue.

These faces said to me:
Deep is the love we have for each other.
No one can kill that.

They fell.
But what happened then is
We rose up.

Carol MacDuffee Hanson
two years later
September 11, 2003

{one} what was your first pet and how did you come up with its name?My first pet was names Alexander Marshall.  For some reason I was obsessed with that name.  I called him Alex and I now have a nephew by the same first name! {two} do you like your ice crushed or cubed?CUBED. {three} do you believe in love at first sight?No.  I believe in infatuation at first sight.  I think love grows and diminishes over time.  There are times you will love someone more than you ever have before and then as time passes it can lapse into complacency, later it may come back even stronger. {four} do you have any nicknames?Oh geez...Libby (obviously), Libber, Der Libenater, Libation, Libbigail, Lil boo, Lil bit, Elsie bub, Lizard...the list goes on... {five} what movie do you never get tired of watching?When Harry Met Sally {six} how do you like your eggs cooked?Over medium.  Whites hard yellows runny. {seven} are you named after anyone in particular?Yes!  It's a family tradition from Aunt to Niece as Elizabeth.  I have a great aunt Lizzy, an aunt Libby, and my niece is Elizabeth Claire. {eight} what are three things that you would like to do that you haven’t done yet?Go abroad with Ben, buy a house, have a baby...all somedays.... {nine} what one thing always brightens your mood?Genuine unabashed laughter {ten} what five things will you always find in your purse?Cell, wallet, hairbrush, make up bag, and HOPEFULLY hairties....

Holy Chicken Pot Pie Batman!

It's been nice getting settled in my new kitchen, well...new to me!  I have had such a hankering for getting back to cooking it's not even funny, so last night when I left work I had a huge craving for chicken pot pie.  I didn't want to buy one of those frozen Marie Callender's thingys, although they are delish!  No, I wanted to create.  I have recently realized that cooking is my art form.  I use recipes a lot of the time but sometimes I just want to throw something together and be proud of the result.  So I thought to myself, "If I were a homemade chicken pot pie what would I be made of...?"  Thoughts of buttery crescent rolls, creamy gravy, fresh veggies, and lumps of chicken came to mind....so here is what I came up with on a whim at my little local Trader Joe's....

1 LARGE can of chicken in broth
1/2 bag of frozen veggie medley with carrots, peas, corn etc.
1-2 tubes of crescent roll dough
Butter, milk, and flour for a cream sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Spray the bottom of a ceramic, glass, pie tin with Pam.  Even though the crescent roll dough doesn't specify to grease the pan I think it's important to the pie doesn't stick.

Spread the crescent roll dough and make it one solid sheet.  Line the bottom of
your dish of choice with the dough leaving extra for the top of the pie.

Put canned chicken in pan without draining the broth.  Add garlic powder to taste and let heat up to medium heat.

Defrost the veggies in a collander with warm water.

Make a rue from the milk butter and flour...(Here is a great place to learn how although I don't use the oil in mine...).  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Layer chicken, veggies, chicken, veggies, chicken into the baking dish on top of the dough.  Pour cream sauce over top.  Add extra dough to create a top for the pie.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes or until top is flaky and golden!  Enjoy!!!

So I got this idea from my new found friend Leigh Kramer.  I'm going to try it out!  This is an older Wednesday edition but since I am going on a road trip tonight I found it all too appropriate.

{one} if you could go on a road trip anywhere with one person, dead or alive, who would it be and where would you go?

Ben.  Ok I know it's schmultzy and all that but I would rather be stuck in a car with Ben for 10-40 hours on the way to something exciting or relaxing than be almost anywhere.  The thought of creating new memories and experiences makes my heart start humming.  Love road trips and love him!

{two} if you were stranded on a desert island, which one person would you bring with you?

Tom Hanks.  He won that bitch.

{three} what's your earliest memory?

I don't even really know.  I slightly remember the look of our house in St. Louis, I would have been around 3.  I remember crushing pecans and killing slugs when we lived in Alabama soon after we left St. Louis...

{four} what's the best advice you've ever received?

Before you go to anyone else, go to God in prayer.  I can't say I'm good at practicing this all the time but it definitely has always worked to make me look at the situation from His perspective, if that's even possible!

{five} if you could have an endless supply of food, what would you get?

I don't want to choose!  I love food so much that I don't want to leave any categories out.  Plus, I can't go long without fried pickles but I don't think I'd want an endless supply.  If you eat too much of something, you won't want it anymore and that would be sad.

{six} would you rather be a famous musician or a famous actor?

Can I be an actor in musical theater?  Is that an option? 

{seven} if you could be a star athlete in any sport, which would you choose?

Figure skating.  It's incredibly athletic and combines dance and music!

{eight} if you were offered the job of u.s. president, would you take it?

No.  Freakin.  Way.

{nine} would you rather have the ability to fly or the ability to breathe underwater?

Fly.  Although I'm not sure if I'm more terrified of being that high up or being that down low.

{ten} what music are you listening to today?

Pandora Michael Jackson playlist.  "C'mon girl!  You know I love ya!"

Grace and Mercy

Grace:  "Getting what you don't deserve."

Mercy:  "Not getting what you deserve."

This Me Me Nostalgic

Paul Harvey Writes: 

 We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better.

 I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches.. I really would.

 I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated.

 I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car.  And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen.

  It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.

  I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.

  I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him.

 When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him/her.

 I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.

 On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom.

 If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one.

 I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.

  When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.

 I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy/girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like.

 May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.

  I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle.

 May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays.

  I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.

  These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.

  Written with a pen. Sealed with a kiss. I'm here for you. And if I die before you do, I'll go to heaven and wait for you.