best meatloaf ever. and latkes. and fire.

last night we had the best meatloaf ever, with no credit to give to me.  i just follow the directions and put it on the table :)  this recipe is from the pioneer woman, who i love love.  her and i share a mutual love for butter, meat, cheese, potatoes and cream.  we get along really well. 

this is one of jon's favorites as well. here's the recipe:

you'll need-

• Meatloaf:
• 1 cup Whole Milk
• 6 slices White Bread
• 2 pounds Ground Beef
• 1 cup (heaping) Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
• 3/4 teaspoons Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1/3 cup Minced Flat-leaf Parsley
• 4 whole Eggs, Beaten
• 10 slices Thin/regular Bacon
• Sauce:
• 1-1/2 cup Ketchup
• 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
• Tabasco To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour milk over the bread slices. Allow it to soak in for several minutes.
Place the ground beef, milk-soaked bread, Parmesan, seasoned salt, salt, black pepper, and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Pour in beaten eggs.
With clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined. Form the mixture into a loaf shape on a broiler pan, which will allow the fat to drain. (Line the bottom of the pan with foil to avoid a big mess!)
Lay bacon slices over the top, tucking them underneath the meatloaf.
Make the sauce: add ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and hot sauce in a mixing bowl. Stir together. Pour 1/3 of the mixture over the top of the bacon. Spread with a spoon.
Bake for 45 minutes, then pour another 1/3 of the sauce over the top. Bake for another 15 minutes. Slice and serve with remaining sauce.

i like to put it in the oven for 30 minutes first without the sauce so the bacon has a chance to cook

what goes better with meatloaf than anything? potatoes.  instead of doing a standard mashed potato, i made my favorite little potato latkes (pancakes).  here's the play by play.

ingredients:

-one carrot
-one potato
-one zucchini
-2 eggs
-2 T flour
-1 t salt
-half a small onion
-canola oil for frying

forgot the flour and oil in the picture, oops.

directions:

In food processor chop 2 T or 1/2 a small onion finely. Add 2 eggs and pulse to blend. Add 1 chopped carrot, 1 chopped zucchini and 1 chopped potato. Pulse to chop and blend. Stir in 2 T flour and 1/2 tsp salt.

Spoon onto pan and Fry over med/hi heat in oil (not tons) til browned on both sides. Make sure oil is hot before adding to pan.

ask the hubs to take over when you get splashed with too much hot oil

 

 

again, stop at any point to take pictures of/with your silly "kids". 

daddy made him and kena pipe cleaner glasses lol

i love my family.  and i love food. here's what we got to enjoy.

jon spent a good part of the afternoon yesterday doing a much needed clean-up of our backyard, so we decided to spend some time by the fire after makena went to bed.  i'll end with an absurd amount of photos.  goodnight.

she insisted she wear her hat during story time, lol.