Why #FergusonMatters for Me

This will probably be the only time on this blog that I will be completely serious. You don’t have to read this post, but I would appreciate it if you continued on.

From September 2011 to June 2012, I was a part of Literacy*AmeriCorps and served at a children’s literacy nonprofit in Pittsburgh, PA. My role was to manage a mentoring program for second and third graders at four inner city Pittsburgh public schools and be the in-school facilitator at three of them. The purpose of the mentoring program was to foster a love of reading in the students as well as provide them with one-on-one attention from a caring adult. From a demographics standpoint, 90% of students at my program schools were African American and all but one school provided free or subsidized school lunches.

How did it go for me? Imagine a young, naive Miss Lizzie stealing a troupe of second and third graders from class once a week, making them eat lunch early without any help from the cafeteria aides, telling my students that no, they couldn’t go to recess today, and finally parading them to the library to hang out with a bunch of adults and books. All of which I did while being highly caffeinated and proclaiming about how great wizards, unicorns, puppies were. “Miss Lizzie, you’re weird” was a commonly stated phrase.

They probably viewed me like this.
Courtesy of Hyperbole and a Half.

They ran circles around me at first but we eventually came to an understanding. And, on a side note, I don’t think I will ever have a professional opportunity again in which I walk into a room and hear a dozen voices cry “Miss Lizzie!” with 20 children running up to give me bear hugs.

At my smallest program, I filled in for a vacationing volunteer for a couple of weeks with a second grade boy (name withheld). He loved nonfiction, especially biographies. His class had recently learned about Jackie Robinson; so we read more about Jackie, and I listened to my buddy excitedly rattle off Jackie’s stats. It was the week before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day so I had checked out from the library several more books about civil rights leaders to add to the program book collection. My second grader next selected a picture book about Martin Luther King, Jr. himself. Suddenly, my second grader turned to me and said, “Miss Lizzie, what’s racism?”

Inwardly, I panicked – as a privileged white female who went to a nationally ranked suburban high school and attended a private Catholic university, my AmeriCorps experience was the first time my world view had shifted on its axis. How could I adequately educate this little boy about something that I, slowly realizing, was ignorant? Since I encouraged my students to ask me questions, I had to formulate some sort of respectable and thoughtful answer.

I stumbled my way through explaining the Jim Crow laws, the beginnings of the civil rights movement, and how Mr. King said that people should not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Was I like this?

No.

In fact, my second grader was making this face at me:

So I ended my awkward speech by saying: “The Jim Crow laws were wrong; racism is wrong; and people know better now. I think you’re great because you’re funny and smart and really good at sports. That’s what matters. Let’s keep reading.”

I got a big smile from my second grade buddy and we then switched over to an I Spy book.

Not long after that, a teenager named Trayvon Martin walked home from a 7-11 and was shot by a neighborhood watchman, and my students never asked me what racism meant again.

Get to the point, Lizzie. I know, I know.

No, I don’t condone or support the violent protests and riots in Ferguson. Two wrongs do not make a right.

What do I think? The media slandered the characters of Trayvon Martin then and now Michael Brown. Maybe they broke rules. Maybe they did mouth off to a figure of authority and were out of line. Maybe they did react aggressively.

But you know what? They were teenage boys who were scared.

I firmly believe that there are other ways for figures of authority to neutralize a perceived threat other than by firing a gun. I think it is wrong to shoot first and ask questions later. I think it is wrong that, in our country, this statistically happens in more cases with African American young men.

This morning after reading the Missouri grand jury’s decision, I cried in the shower not only because I feel like I lied to my second grade buddy about the state of racism in our country. I mostly cried because my second grader is now in fourth grade and I fear for his safety.

That is why #FergusonMatters to me.

Last but not least, all schools were closed again in St. Louis County today because of the riots. Many of these students rely on their schools for breakfast, lunch, and after school snacks. One charity “Feed the Students of Ferguson” is addressing that need. All donations go directly to the St. Louis Area Foodbank & will be used to feed kids in Ferguson and nearby areas. To learn more, please visit: https://fundly.com/feed-the-students-of-ferguson.

 

Thank you for reading,

Sie Lizzie D

When Boyfriend is Away, the Scallops Come Out to Play

Boyfriend left yesterday for a Criminology conference in San Francisco. He won’t be back until Sunday – it’s the first time he’s left me behind at the apartment on my own.

Criminoloy – eh? Yes, Boyfriend is smart and studies things that I kinda-sorta understand. When he tells me what he works on, I compute two things:

1) He is very intelligent.

2)

 

General Announcement: Boyfriend has to dress up all this week and therefore requested recognition by being one of my blog memes. Thus, we shall humor him.

Dapper Boyfriend.

 

Anyway, I am on my own for 5 nights and I’m a combination of this:

 

 

And this:

Which is a pretty typical reaction from what I’ve heard from others that co-habitate. I have full TV control but the weird noises in the middle of the night spook me. And even though the bed is all mine, it’s a little lonely so I’ve been getting some long overdue TLC with my neglected stuffed animals.

 

So this is what I did on my first full evening alone.

Step 1: Walked just under 2 miles from work to the grocery store. I sweated through my work clothes but no one noticed because I had my puffy winter jacket on. Well, hopefully no one noticed.

 

Step 2: Bought ingredients and only got slightly overwhelmed at the store. Oh, and I avoided hitting myself with any unripened fruit.

Step 3: Arrived home and saw that Google Play was offering Guardians of the Galaxy’s “Awesome Mix: Vol. 1” for free. Downloaded it and had a small dance party, Baby Groot style.

 

Step 4: Prepared myself a romantic meal. Yes, that’s right – I would recommend the following menu for a date night to others but for me….

So first, I will share my friend Scott’s scallops recipe which shall henceforth be called…

Scotty’s Scallops

Ingredients

• 3-4 scallops per person *If you think scallops are pretty A-okay then buy 3. If you are a seafood addict like myself then get 4.

Honestly, not too bad, expense-wise.
Good God, why do restaurants charge so much??

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• Heat a saute pan on high.
• Salt and pepper the scallops.

• Once the pan is hot, add olive oil and gently add the scallops, making sure they are not touching each other.
• Sear the scallops for 1 1/2 minutes on each side.
• After  you flip the scallop to sear the other side, add the butter and spoon onto  scallops.

• The scallops should have a 1/4-inch golden crust on each side while still being translucent in the center. Serve immediately.

Lemon-Parsley Risotto by Real Simple

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped **I use 1 shallot instead. Dooooo iiiit.
• 2 cups Arborio rice **Much better than plain white rice. Believe me, I’ve tried.
• 1 cup dry white wine **Tonight’s was made with a nice Pinot Grigio.
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth **I only had 2 cups of chicken stock left so I combined it with 2 cups of Britta water boiled with a chicken bouillon cube.
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice **Eeeeehhhh I used like 4 tablespoons of lemon juice.
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 cup (4 ounces) grated Parmesan **Miiight have used 2 cups – it’s in the realm of possibility.
• zest of 1 lemon, grated **DO THIS. My grater was pilfered from a past roommate so I had to go without.
• 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped **Still being slow on the fresh herb train so I used 1/4 cup of dried parsley.
• Baby Bella mushrooms **Not in the original recipe but mine were about to go bad. And, much like garlic, I enjoy mushrooms in all the things.

Directions

• Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion shallot and cook for 3 minutes. Once shallot is becoming translucent, add the mushrooms.
• Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Reduce heat, add the wine, and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid is absorbed.
• Add the broth ½ cup at a time, stirring occasionally and waiting until it’s absorbed before adding more. This should take about 30 minutes total. The rice should be tender but still slightly firm. Remove from heat.
• **So if you want to be careful, then follow the actual directions. If you are a maverick and want to eat sooner, then once your wine is absorbed, keep your risotto on medium high heat. Add 3/4 to 1 cup of broth at a time. Put the lid on so that it combines faster but make sure to keep track of it and to still stir often.

Again, you increase your chances of  burning thine holy risotto but as Professor Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody once said:

Oh and it should look something like this:

 

Lizzie Random Thought Pause: as I was stirring my risotto and watched it transform from raw rice grains to something delicious, I wondered how people could claim that they don’t like risotto. I just don’t understand. As I was making a case for risotto by myself, I thought, “I mean, I bet even cannibals prefer it when their meals soak in a hot tub for a while.”

Okay, I’m done now.

• Once you’ve incorporated all of the broth, add the lemon juice, ½ teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, Parmesan, parsley, and the remaining butter and stir until the butter melts.
• Spoon into individual bowls **OR ON ONE BIG PLATE** and sprinkle with the zest and more parsley.

I also roasted some asparagus and this was my end product.

 

 

I will note that my friend Scott gets a MUCH nicer sear on his scallops so I need to practice. But gosh, it was delicious. I would definitely ask myself out for a second date.

 

Step 5: Missing Boyfriend but am enjoying my food baby, cab sauv, and Parks and Recreation marathon.

 

 

Tschüss!

Sie Lizzie D

Pigeon Attacks, Deconstructed Chicken Pot Pie, and Too Much Red Wine

Confession 1: I don’t particularly like birds.

 

 

Confession 2: I’ma let you finish but I HATE owls.  When I was 7 years old, my wolf pack and I went to the aviary for a nice day communing with the birds. We attended a birds of prey flight show, and I volunteered to have an owl land on my arm. Because, hey, I watched Disney and those owls were friendly.

 

I mean, c’mon – his name was Friend Owl.

 

Also, I had watched Ladyhawke with Fajah and secretly wanted a taloned side kick.

No, I didn’t understand the weird, supernatural romance at the time.

 

Anyway, as Donut the Snowy Owl landed on my outstretched arm, I gazed at my new best friend in abandon.

Donut the she-demon looked something like this.

 

And as I stared into Donut’s eyes with wonderment, Donut did this.

AND PECKED ME ON THE NOSE.

Yes, it was traumatic. Yes, it hurt. And yes, it haunts me to this day that Donut could have PECKED MY EYES OUT.

Anyway, I was assaulted by an owl and the entire Strigiformes order will remain my most bitter enemy until the end of time.

You deserve all the sadness in the world, beast.

Anyway, cue to last Wednesday, I was sitting outside during my lunch break; I often enjoy relaxing on a park bench in McPherson Square…yes, I am well aware of the empty syringe needles discreetly littered amongst certain benches. But you know what? No one bothers me and I just turn up my headphones and have a nice read on my Kindle.

On this day, I noticed a large flock of pigeons flapping around quite aggressively. While I don’t hate the bird species as a whole per say, I still don’t trust them due to three reasons.

1. This unholy monster

 

2. Alfred Hitchcock

 

3. This was their forefather.

 

So, the pigeons were swooping all around me and the other park patrons, and I was doing my very best to ignore them and to not flinch when they flew a little too close for comfort.

I was in a good part of my book when WOMPF. One of the blighters socked me in the back of the head.

To be completely honest, the bag of pears hurt far worse. Imagine getting hit in the back of the skull by a feathery hacky sack…that’s what it feels like when a pigeon makes contact. It was more the shock of, “Wow, that little fool actually flew into me.”

When I got back into the work, I natürlich shared the elevator with my boss’s boss. When he asked me how my break was, all I could say was, “Well, um…it was good? Well, actually, a bird flew into my head so it was…okay?” To say the very least, he laughed.

A lot.

The very next day I figured, hey, if lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice, than neither do pigeons. I went back to McPherson Square during my break again albeit on a different park bench. The same gang of pigeons were still there. I figured if I didn’t look at them, they wouldn’t look at me.

Towards the end of my time outside, I felt something staring at me. So I looked up.

Hello, Clarice.

THIS PIGEON WAS HARD-CORE CREEPING ON ME. Again, I calmed myself down by repeating the mantra, “You’re bigger than a pigeon. You’re bigger than a pigeon…”

AND THEN IT FLEW ON MY LAP. IT JUST FLAPPED ITS WINGS AND ALIGHTED ON MY LEGS FOR WHATEVER NEFARIOUS PURPOSE.

Obviously, I shrieked, hysterically giggled, and ran away.

After two days of being harassed by avian fiends, I decided then and there, “I WILL EAT YOU ALL.”

So I turned to Ina Garten, that culinary goddess, for some quality comfort food.

Disclaimer: if butter gives you the wiggins, then don’t make this recipe. And don’t talk to me for that matter.

Chicken Stew with Biscuits

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on *Uhhh, I just used a lot of skinless tenderloins. APOLOGIES, INA.
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade *I used store-bought. I will go absolve myself of sins ASAP.
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions) *I used 2 sweet onions – they were on special.
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups medium-diced carrots (4 carrots), blanched for 2 minutes *I used baby carrots because I don’t have time for adult ones.
• 1 10 -ounce package frozen peas (2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions *Huh, Ina? Pearl onions, ye mean? Yeah, let’s go with that*
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley *1/4 dried parsley if you will, sir. 

  For the biscuits:
  

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
• 3/4 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Another pitiful food foto attempt.

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2) Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken.

…Ehhhh sooooo I will be completely honest that I outright bastardized Ina’s recipe. Boyfriend had to go play in a soccer game so I wanted to simultaneously eat all the birds, try a new recipe, and attempt to feed him. So this is what I did instead.

2) * Defrost 10 chicken tenderloins. Dice them up into equal portions. Coat a medium sized pan with olive oil. Season the diced chicken with salt and pepper and sauté the chicken in the pan on medium-high heat.

3) In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. *Ina does not joke around folks. If you want a chicken stew then you will get ALL THE CHICKEN FLAVOR* In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent.

 

The CHICKEN sauce, butter and onions combo, and sautéing chicken pieces.
With pride, I poured myself a glass of cab sauv.

 

4) Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the heavy cream.

 

Seems legit. 

And, I figured out how to blanch. Thanks, Wikipedia.

Blanching the babies.
Poured myself some more red wine.

 

5) Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions, and parsley. Mix well.

 

Yes, it smelled positively delightful.

 

6) Place the stew in a 10 x 13 x 2-inch oval or rectangular baking dish. Place the baking dish on a sheet pan lined with parchment or wax paper.

 

I spilled nary a drop!

 

7) Bake for 15 minutes.

Here’s where this story’s Icarus flew too close to the sun. In my haste to get dinner ready and lured by the satiny goddess that is cabernet sauvignon, I forgot a most important step.

Step 1.

TURNING ON THE FLIPPIN’ OVEN.

At that point, there was no way that I was going to heat the oven in time, let the stew bake, make some biscuits, bake the biscuits, and feed Boyfriend.

Natürlich, Boyfriend was cut loose and had to fend for himself. He very happily noshed on leftover pizza as I drank more wine in my sorrow over not turning on the oven.

8) Meanwhile, make the biscuits. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Add the half-and-half and combine on low speed. Mix in the parsley. Dump the dough out on a well-floured board and, with a rolling pin, roll out to 3/8-inch thick. Cut out twelve circles with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter.

…UUUUUHHHHH, so let’s get real.

 

Today was not the day for homemade biscuits.

The oven was finally heated, Boyfriend was out the door, so I was FINALLY able to let the stew cook for 15 minutes.

9) Remove the stew from the oven and arrange the biscuits on top of the filling. Brush them with egg wash, and return the dish to the oven.

 

Oh, it’s show time. I even did the egg wash thing.

 

10) Bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the biscuits are brown and the stew is bubbly.

Note: To make in advance, refrigerate the chicken stew and biscuits separately. Bake the stew for 25 minutes, then place the biscuits on top, and bake for another 30 minutes, until done. *Thank you, Ina. Very thoughtful note.

Once my concoction was safely back in the oven and dinner was imminent, I decided to relax and have another glass of wine. 20 minutes rolled by, I went to go check on my chicken-biscuit beauty…

…the biscuits weren’t cooked.

 

So, like a good little Home Economics girl, I added another 5 minutes. That time elapsed…still no cooking. Did I purchase devil biscuits?

If you Google search “devil biscuit,” this is the first hit. De nada.

As I fruitlessly added more and more minutes, I drank more and more wine. I was about to burst into tears and kept yelling at the meal, “WHY WON’T YOU BAKE?? WHY, INA, WHY???!!!!”

Finally, I decided, “Screw it, I don’t care if it burns, I need to turn up the heat.” I turned up the heat and nothing happened.

So…

…Instead of hitting “Kitchen Time” when I put the stew in for its first 15 minutes, I hit “Cooking Time.” And when the timer went off.

THE OVEN WENT OFF. I WASN’T BAKING ANYTHING. THE STEW AND BISCUITS WERE JUST BASKING IN RESIDUAL HEAT. A SAUNA IF YOU WILL.

I turned on the oven and baked my meal after an accumulated hour of wine-induced angst.

Well…here is the drama queen in her glory.

I then ate a lot of the chicken stew because biscuits are delicious and I was so very hungry. I plan on making it again and will hopefully follow the directions next time.

Boyfriend’s review: “Six thumbs up.”

…I sense sarcasm and a hint of rebellion.
.

 

So remember readers:

1. Owls are the devil’s servants.
2. Pigeons are flying rats and should not be trusted.
3. Ina’s chicken stew and biscuits recipe is delicious, even when it’s bastardized.
4. You should probably follow directions.
5. Watch the lure of the cab sauv whilst baking.

 

Tschüss!

Sie Lizzie D

MA! The Meatloaf!

Until this evening, my only memory of meatloaf is this:

Yes, until this evening, I have never known the taste of meatloaf. I have two theories why I have gone 26 years without knowing this.

Theory 1: Mi madre is from jolly old England and never learned the recipe. Instead, we enjoyed family favorites such as shepherd’s pie. (If you’ve never tried it, I feel sorry for you).

Theory 2: Fajah OD’d on meatloaf as a child and banned it from our family’s recipe repertoire. I mean, hey, it was his co-ruled household. He could render a moratorium on all meatloaf intake if he felt like it.

After never consuming meatloaf during my childhood, I just assumed that I didn’t like it. Thus, I shunned it whenever I went to traditional American restaurants. That and I love fried chicken and bacon cheeseburgers with extra barbecue sauce. Meatloaf will always lose out to those delights.

I miss you, Beautiful Kelsey Burger
(Courtesy of Pittsburgh’s Fat Head’s Saloon).

 

As I was looking up recipes, I came upon many of the meatloaf variety and started thinking…Why don’t I like it again? Seasoned meat in a zesty ketchup-based sauce? What’s not to like? After looking at my grocery store’s weekly specials, I saw that ground beef was discount price.

Guess it’s meatloaf time.

I referred back to my old friend AllRecipes.com and chose the following recipe.

Easy Meatloaf

 

Ingredients

Original recipe makes 8 servings

1. 1 1/2 pounds ground beef *I ALMOST used the correct amount of meat. I got 1.29 lbs instead.
2. 1 egg
3. 1 onion, chopped
4. *1/2 bell pepper, chopped
5. 1 cup milk
6. 1 cup dried bread crumbs *I used panko bread crumbs; I like that they’re whole wheat and a teensy bit more healthy for you. I was running low so I probably only had about 3/4 cup. Whoops.
7. salt and pepper to taste *I used about half tablespoons of both because I think that it’s my go to amount. C’est la vie.
8. *1 tsp of garlic powder
9. 2 tablespoons brown sugar
10. 2 tablespoons prepared mustard *I used Grey Poupon dijon mustard because it is the mustard of champions.
11. 1/3 cup ketchup *Heinz because it is the only ketchup that exists. DOWN WITH HUNTS!

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, combine the beef, egg, onion, bell pepper, milk, and bread crumbs. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste and place in a lightly greased 5×9 inch loaf pan, OR form into a loaf and place in a lightly greased 9×13 inch baking dish.
• In a separate small bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard and ketchup. Mix well and pour over the meatloaf.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour.

So, my meatloaf started off on a painful note.

I typically pride myself on being an onion whisperer. Meaning, they have never ever made me cry with their sulfuric vapors thus far in my culinary efforts. But today, I was brought low by this pungent fellow.

 No one makes me cry my own tears, onion. No one.

 

I changed very little with this recipe except for the additions of the bell pepper and the garlic powder. I was intrigued when I saw another recipe using bell pepper so I thought I would give it a try. In terms of the garlic powder, I would have minced a couple of cloves but a) I’m currently running low b) I was feeling lazy.

Anyway, the meatloaf was pretty easy to make.

It’s just that…Well…

It looks like…a vomitrocious mix.

Meatloaf is quite disgusting looking, right? Meatloaf is like The Stinky Cheese Man‘s “The Really Ugly Duckling”…

Classic.

 Anyway, the meatloaf never looked appetizing in any of the cooking process and I had my doubts in its outcome.

Hello, lump of meat.

 

Here it is earning its ketchup cloak.

Um…I tried, okay?

After my ugly meatloaf baby went into the oven, I started on one of my accompaniments – brussels sprouts.

Which funny enough was another banned vegetable in my house growing up. Fajah loaaaaathes brussels sprouts, but I have learned that I really enjoy roasted brussels sprouts.

Obviously, I turned to my girl, Ina Garten.

This would be a dream come true.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil *I only had generic Giant brand EVOO. Please don’t jude me harshly, Ina.
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Shake the pan from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly. Sprinkle with more kosher salt (I like these salty like French fries) *YES THAT IS A REAL INA COMMENT [DIES]*, and serve immediately.

I hope Ina would approve.

I tried to use Lizzie Logic and figured I would wait 15 minutes after I put in the meatloaf to bake the sprouts. I figured since I was roasting the sprouts at a lower temperature than Ina recommended then I would just leave them in for the remaining 45 minutes with the meatloaf.

Um, yum?

I thought the sprouts and loaf smelled very nice together whilst cooking. In the final 10 minutes, I made some instant mashed potatoes as my second side.

So the end results…

My meatloaf came out…juicy. But cooked through.

Sadly, Lizzie Logic failed me this eve and I over-cooked a few of my brussels Lieblings.

I’m sorry, Ina.

Here’s how dinner looked all together:

Another feeble attempt at food photography.

Lizzie’s Thoughts

• Meatloaf tastes like….a loaf of meat. I’m not sure if it’s my new favorite food but I can see why people like it.
• I have never seen Boyfriend look and act so excited over a new recipe.
• I think my favorite part of the meatloaf was the outside edges with the nice ketchup glaze.
• I would definitely recommend browning the onion and bell pepper before mixing it in to the vomitrocious mix.
• I read somewhere to try adding a tbsp of Worcestershire sauce to the vomitrocious mix. That sounds nice, do that.
• I would keep roasting the brussels sprouts at 350 degrees F but would take them out after 30-35 minutes.

Boyfriend’s Review: “It is very good and moist. Very moist.”

Meatloaf for the Boyfriend win.

Tschüss!

Sie Lizzie D