Vacation day

[ksmith]

"Vacation," however, does not mean "day of rest."

Emptied out piggy bank and cashed in the coins at the non-piggy bank. Came away with enough to pay for groceries, including six bottles of Kris Pinot Grigio, my new fave white wine. Taking a break. Will then work outside for a few hours, because it is too freaking lovely--clear blue sky and temps in the 70s--to stay inside. Need to mow that backyard, edge and trim, and weed and feed the veggies. The squash and zucchini are both blooming, and the first squash is forming. The rubber is very slowly starting to meet the road.

Will be making a meat loaf. Two pounds of Lasater's Grass-Fed Beef hamburger will be mixed with onion, garlic, tomato paste, chopped fresh tomato, oregano, egg, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Maybe some basil. Maybe some of the home-grown parsley. Maybe a dash of milk, or I may use olive oil instead. It's good ground beef, but since it's grass-fed it tends to be dry.

Will be roasting another chicken over the weekend as well because that was made of Win.

And, oh yeah. Writing. It's supposed to rain off and on Saturday and Sunday. Perfect writing weather.

Comments

[e-moon60.livejournal.com]

When I've got really lean ground beef and want meat loaf, I mix 2 pounds ground beef with 1 pound pork sausage (sometimes Owens, sometimes another.) If you want a little extra spice to it, the Owens "hot" is good (the beef takes down the hot considerably, but there's still a pleasant warmth.) I don't use egg in mine, but I do use a good slosh of merlot along with tomato paste. Homegrown parsley is excellent in a meatloaf or meatballs. Since I'm lazier than you, I often use Pepperidge Farm herbed bread stuffing (run over with a rolling pin to break up the bigger bits.)

This is purely discussion, not advice, except that the pork sausage with lean ground beef is a trick I learned from my mother and it makes a scrumptious meatloaf.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I will remember the tip about pork. And the merlot.

Although I just ate the fruits of my labors now, and the meat came out surprisingly moist. I added about half a small can of tomato paste, three eggs, and only half a cup of bread crumbs for 2 pounds of meat. Also added about 3/4 of a medium yellow onion (surprisingly mild), 2 cloves garlic, 1 diced tomato, a couple teaspoons of last year's dried oregano, a handful of a mix of basil leaves, cilantro, and parsley--what a lovely aroma--3/4 tablespoon of Kosher salt and pepper that I didn't measure. Enough pepper. 2 hours at 350F. 1.5 hours covered, last half-hour uncovered.

A little too much salt for me, but I'm always sensitive to it because Mom never cooked with it if she could avoid it. But it was moist and good--the taste of the meat came through just fine. And it went great with--ta da--a side dish of broiled asparagus and sliced tomato with shallot and garlic.

And I have plenty leftover for sandwiches. Yum...

[e-moon60.livejournal.com]

I do love meatloaf sandwiches.