Growing up, I was never a fan of meatloaf.  I don’t know why, because even then meatballs were my favorite food and meatloaf is essentially a meatball in loaf form.

Well, meatloaf came up in conversation on Thanksgiving so we decided to make it this week and I have CHANGED MY MIND!  This recipe was so good – moist and sweet from the glaze, with a little kick from the different kinds of pepper.  We halved the recipe and I noted our other edits below.

Good Eats Meatloaf
from Alton Brown

6 oz garlic-flavored croutons (we used regular bread crumbs)

For the glaze:
1/2 C catsup
1 Tsp ground cumin
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash hot pepper sauce
1 Tbs honey

Heat oven to 325 degrees F (we suggest upping to 350 degrees).

In a food processor bowl, combine croutons, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Pulse until the mixture is of a fine texture. Place this mixture into a large bowl. Combine the onion, carrot, garlic, and red pepper in the food processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped, but not pureed. Combine the vegetable mixture, ground sirloin, and ground chuck with the bread crumb mixture. Season the meat mixture with the kosher salt. Add the egg and combine thoroughly, but avoid squeezing the meat.

Pack this mixture into a 10-inch loaf pan to mold the shape of the meatloaf. Onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, turn the meatloaf out of the pan onto the center of the tray. Insert a temperature probe at a 45 degree angle into the top of the meatloaf. Avoid touching the bottom of the tray with the probe. Set the probe for 155 degrees.

Combine the catsup, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce and honey. Brush the glaze onto the meatloaf after it has been cooking for about 10 minutes.  (Total cook-time for our little half loaf was about an hour).

Enjoy!

I had some leftover dough last week after making a pumpkin pie so I decided to throw together 3 little apple pies, so easy.

Roll out your dough.  Mix cubed apples with a dash of sugar (depending on how sweet you want it), a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a bit of flour. Use egg wash to seal up the sides and then neaten them up with a ravioli cutter for a decorative look. Bake according to your dough instructions and voila – three little pies (or however many you make).

Enjoy!

I decided to jazz up the old school out-of-a-can-baked-in-a-store-bought crust pumpkin pie I made for Thanksgiving dessert later today with some cute leaves made from tiny cookie cutters.

I just cut out all the leaves (and a pumpkin for the center of the pie), used egg wash to “glue” them to the perimeter of the pie crust, baked as directed and voila…

Fancy-looking pumpkin pie, here’s a close-up of the leaves. Happy Thanksgiving!

We made this delicious apple bread a few weeks ago and I thought I’d share the recipe today, a couple days before Thanksgiving, if you’re looking for something to make for breakfast before your turkey feast.  It has all the flavors of fall and isn’t super sweet, which I like in a breakfast bread.  This recipe makes 2 loaves, so we halved it.

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Enjoy!

I also thought I’d share a beverage option for your Thanksgiving meal tomorrow.  At the wine tasting we went to recently we tried mead.  We were told that mead is a “honey wine” that is made by fermenting honey and water.  As you can expect, it’s super sweet.  They make different flavors and the brand we tried, brewed up in NH, has a flavor called Kurt’s Apple Pie.

It was yummy, so we bought a bottle and will serve it over ice on Thanksgiving. It pairs well with blue and cheddar cheeses, prosciutto, and dates.  So maybe we’ll have it with appetizers…