For the Love of Food

For this month’s Taste&Create I was partnered with Kris from Behold the Metatron. And, when I came across her meatloaf recipe, I knew exactly with recipe I was going to make! I looooove meatloaf, but I rarely take the time to make it. So, since we hadn’t had it in …well months… now was as good a time as any to make some.

I have to say that it was very easy to put all the ingredients together, and the addition of the oatmeal gave it a lighter less dense texture that we all enjoyed. I did use a mixture of ground beef and pork since I have no access to ground turkey. I would have really liked to have tried it with ground turkey..maybe when I’m in the US on vacation I can. I really liked the addition of the red bell peppers – I’ve never had meatloaf with bell peppers in it. In the future, I may go ahead and add roasted bell peppers instead so that they are softer – even after an hour of baking the chopped bell pepper retained it’s crunch. I also think the smoky flavor of a roasted bell pepper would really complement this recipe.

Also, another first for me was tomato sauce on top of my meatloaf. I’m still not sure if I really like it or not with tomato sauce on top – barbecue sauce on the other hand would convince me a bit more.

All in all it is a great recipe that is really easy to put together. You can find the original recipe here!

I have to say that I’ve learned quite a bit from my Project Foodblog experience:
-Step-by-step pictorial blog posts get the attention of more readers – probably because they are more helpful
-Taking time to set up a true photo shoot for a meal can produce amazing results

and

-Making a good cooking video is easier said than done

What I enjoyed most about the experience was getting to know myself and my new limits and being introduced to new recipes.

This recipe is one of those recipes. For years I had considered making it, but often decided against it because of lack of knowledge. So, when bell’allimento made a cooking video for Project Foodblog demonstrating just how simple it was, I had to get right to it.

First I dug out the bacon that we smoked with some friends last winter, then rummaged through the refrigerator for the other ingredients – which most of us would always have on hand. I used Pecorino cheese instead of Parmesan because my son is lactose intolerant and can only eat goat and sheep cheeses – Pecorino being a sheep cheese. And, I whipped this recipe up in a mater of 20 minutes. It’s quick and delicious.

Check out bell’allimento’s video recipe here.

Hi, yes, I am still here. Happy New Year everyone!

I have been quite a busy bee lately, and have neglected posting on the blog….I have had a few technical difficulties, but I am slowly ironing everything out!

Here are some great things that have happened in the end of November:
-I held a the most successful Thanksgiving party to date
-my year-long attempts at starting my own American bakery here in Germany are slowly coming to fruition (once things are up and running I will share more information with you guys)
-my baby (now toddler!) has learned to walk
-I am back doing organized sports – and loving it
-I got a new kitchen cabinet to store my daily-use dishes and glasses
-I got a lovely book case from France that’s about 100 years old
-I finally decided what colors to paint in the hallway and did it
-we had family over for the holidays – as well as a surprise visit from a friend we hadn’t seen in 8 years!
-my older son grew 2 shoe sizes in a week!!
-I was offered a part-time job – out of the blue!
-I learned how to knit!
-I got a sewing machine!
-I got an AWESOME new EIZO monitor for my computer
-we finally hooked up my computer for the first time in a year since we moved from our old home! Yes, I have been working on a borrowed laptop for that long! And I LOOOOVE my computer so much more now.
-and I was able to finalize plans to be on a relaxing vacation visiting family back home in the US for 6 1/2 weeks

And, here are the not so great things that have happened since last November:
-I injured myself climbing in the kitchen and have been walking around in crutches for a few weeks now..with no pain, but swelling…which has to go away before I sit in an airplane with 2 children for 12 hours! This really annoying injury has also caused me to stop doing my weekly routine of sports (about 5 to 7 hours a week) and has caused those pounds that I worked so hard to shed to come back.

Not too bad if you think of it…only 1 thing going wrong in 3 months and it’s wasn’t anything catastrophic! Heck, my new – and lovely – computer has been causing me more trouble! I haven’t been able to upload any new photos onto my Flickr account to blog for you guys – something screwy on my end. I will have to get my tech guy on it right away!

So, I hope you all bare with me for the time being. Blogging will resume as soon as my technical issues have been ironed out!

Oh, and you can find my biscuit recipe here!