For no particularly good reason outside of the fact that we were *there*, we stopped at the "exotic" food aisle of Vons.
These are kiwani melons. The grocer gave us a sample. I think they'd make for an interesting garnish, but they're not really a tasty snack-type fruit.
All of our ingredients except the bread. The tentacular lemon sitting on top of the can of pop-n-fresh flaky pastries isn't so much an ingredient as it is our cooking mascot, Cthulemon. We saw him in the exotic food aisle and decided that we should adopt him.
We went for the "meatloaf mix" ground beef.. which is actually 2/3 beef and 1/3 pork.
"Thaw the Spinach / Rinse or soak under cold water and drain. Pre-heat oven to 350°F."
This is just a picture of the bread that didn't make it in the ingredients group picture.
"In a large bowl, mix together the Ground Beef, Eggs, Bread Crumbs, Ketchup, Milk, 1/2 tsp Salt, Pepper, and Oregano." I accidentally got ground oregano instead of the leaves, so we used a pinch of that instead of a quarter teaspoon. It ended up okay.
Ben didn't have a spoon for mixing, so I combined it with my hands. SQUISH!
Me: "Ben, will you still love me after I've put my hands in this meat?" Ben: "I think I'll love you twice."
"Line a Cookie Pan (12x10) with Aluminum Foil. Carefully flatten the Meat Mixture on top of the foil evenly."
"Take your greens and put in the middle of the meat leaving approximately 1/2 inch border with no greens."
"Add slices of ham and some cheese. Sprinkle with remaining salt." Clearly, we just went down the cheese route.
"You now use the Aluminum Foil to help you roll the meat...so lifting up one end carefully guide the flattened meat to roll on its self (think of a cinnamon roll or rolling a blanket) to create a pinwheel of greens in the middle to form a log."
Ben lost his broiler pan, so we improvised by wrapping the wire rack in the oven in aluminum foil and cutting slits.
Ta Da! A broiler pan. Sort of.
"Place uncovered on a broiler pan." Ben commented our meatloaf looked more like a giant alien meat slug.
Alien meat slug makes friends with Cthulemon.
Ben makes friends with Cthulemon.
Cthulemon flashes you.
Ben's oven mitts are lame.
Alas, they're the only oven mitts he has.
"Cook for 1 hour."
Our meatloaf, after about 45 minutes.
A picture of me taking a picture of our meatloaf.
Ben, taking out the meatloaf.
Aw, man. Alien meatslug sprung a cheese leak or two.
"When done, add extra cheese to the top and serve."
We also baked Grands flaky biscuits. Mmm.
Biscuits and meatloaf.
Meaty, cheesy goodness.
Ben, serving up the meatloaf
We kiss to celebrate not burning the apartment down! Oh, and dinner was yummy, too. :)
