Not your usual meatloaf.
I made this Balsamic-Glazed Lamb Meat Loaf for dinner last night and OMG, soooooooooooo good. Holy crap. I haven't eaten meatloaf of any type in years. (The last was a pork-only loaf my MIL made me several years ago when making regular meatloaf for the family. Good, but... *shrug*... whatever. Before that was childhood. Seriously.)
This was fabulous. I did not make the accompanying bean dish last night because I was worried that dinner might not be to my or Chris's tastes and I figured that if I just made the meat loaf with some mashed potatoes and veg (steamed sugar snap peas, yum!), we could always fill up on taters if the meat sucked. But it did not suck and I showed Chris the pic of the bean/pepper/onion dish and he said to go for it next time. He definitely wants to have the meatloaf again. So yay.
Chris grew up with a stepfather who did most of the cooking. And while capable of some seriously gourmet meals, said stepfather was fond of experimentation that sometimes led everyone else in the house to having a peanut butter sandwich for dinner. So I try to be careful in trying new things. And Chris tries to be honest about the yay or nay on dishes. (Last night he finally admitted -- after several months -- that he hates one of the pasta sauces I sometimes pick up with fresh pasta for quick meals. WTF? I would have stopped buying it the first time had I known. Geez. There are other options for the same price. *sigh* Spouses. Geez.)
But anyway... HUGE success. Highly recommend if you're looking to try something a little different. Also, the balsamic glaze made the house smell heavenly.
Real Simple also has a ground turkey meatloaf (beefed up with spinach) that I've been wanting to try. Given the success of this one, I'm definitely going to try it. Will let you all know how that one goes over.
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In other news, I have another SAR board meeting tonight. Continuation (and resolution) of the issue from last week. I swapped days with coworker so that I'll work tomorrow and be off Thursday so I can go to Steamboat with a group of guys who I love and who will push me to ski beyond my usual level. (Sometimes I wish I had women to ski with, but when I think about how much the guys in my life have helped me advance by pushing me, I'm glad to have them. And I'm lucky that the guys I ski with push without being assholes or demeaning which is a problem I know some women have on the slopes.)
No word on the job yet. I was told a decision would be made "by this time last week" at my interview, which would mean I should hear on Wed. or Thurs. I'm really anxious about this. I really, really want it. Even more than I had thought because I really felt like I clicked with the guy who would be my boss. We'll see. I told my current boss about it yesterday so she can start thinking about a new person, but also said I will let her know yay or nay as soon as I hear so she can either actively search or stop worrying, depending on how it goes. And I let her know that I a) would love to work weekends as long as she can use me (depending on whether she can find a full-time person or only a part-time person) and b) I will be happy to be available in the future for any special events when she could use an extra hand even if just for a few hours (because then I could get paid in free wine *g*). She's in a really tough situation financially so she totally understands me looking for something that's more stable with a future and benefits and was really cool with me. I told her I've never before had a job where I told my boss I had interviewed for another job. It's nice to actually feel comfortable doing that.
Finally, I am sitting at work, enjoying a lovely glass of cab sav, reading fic and waiting to lock the door in 14 minutes. Have a good evening everyone.
This was fabulous. I did not make the accompanying bean dish last night because I was worried that dinner might not be to my or Chris's tastes and I figured that if I just made the meat loaf with some mashed potatoes and veg (steamed sugar snap peas, yum!), we could always fill up on taters if the meat sucked. But it did not suck and I showed Chris the pic of the bean/pepper/onion dish and he said to go for it next time. He definitely wants to have the meatloaf again. So yay.
Chris grew up with a stepfather who did most of the cooking. And while capable of some seriously gourmet meals, said stepfather was fond of experimentation that sometimes led everyone else in the house to having a peanut butter sandwich for dinner. So I try to be careful in trying new things. And Chris tries to be honest about the yay or nay on dishes. (Last night he finally admitted -- after several months -- that he hates one of the pasta sauces I sometimes pick up with fresh pasta for quick meals. WTF? I would have stopped buying it the first time had I known. Geez. There are other options for the same price. *sigh* Spouses. Geez.)
But anyway... HUGE success. Highly recommend if you're looking to try something a little different. Also, the balsamic glaze made the house smell heavenly.
Real Simple also has a ground turkey meatloaf (beefed up with spinach) that I've been wanting to try. Given the success of this one, I'm definitely going to try it. Will let you all know how that one goes over.
----
In other news, I have another SAR board meeting tonight. Continuation (and resolution) of the issue from last week. I swapped days with coworker so that I'll work tomorrow and be off Thursday so I can go to Steamboat with a group of guys who I love and who will push me to ski beyond my usual level. (Sometimes I wish I had women to ski with, but when I think about how much the guys in my life have helped me advance by pushing me, I'm glad to have them. And I'm lucky that the guys I ski with push without being assholes or demeaning which is a problem I know some women have on the slopes.)
No word on the job yet. I was told a decision would be made "by this time last week" at my interview, which would mean I should hear on Wed. or Thurs. I'm really anxious about this. I really, really want it. Even more than I had thought because I really felt like I clicked with the guy who would be my boss. We'll see. I told my current boss about it yesterday so she can start thinking about a new person, but also said I will let her know yay or nay as soon as I hear so she can either actively search or stop worrying, depending on how it goes. And I let her know that I a) would love to work weekends as long as she can use me (depending on whether she can find a full-time person or only a part-time person) and b) I will be happy to be available in the future for any special events when she could use an extra hand even if just for a few hours (because then I could get paid in free wine *g*). She's in a really tough situation financially so she totally understands me looking for something that's more stable with a future and benefits and was really cool with me. I told her I've never before had a job where I told my boss I had interviewed for another job. It's nice to actually feel comfortable doing that.
Finally, I am sitting at work, enjoying a lovely glass of cab sav, reading fic and waiting to lock the door in 14 minutes. Have a good evening everyone.