This week, the gkids and I decided to cook something worthy of President’s Day. George Washington is known for not telling a lie about chopping down the cherry tree…so definitely something cherry. Also there’s Lincoln. Hmmmm….let me think. Lincoln is on the penny, right? My Grandma Ruby used to make something called Copper Pennies…carrots with tomato sauce…YUK! But maybe I could come up with a carrot dish that will entice us all to eat more veggies And what could be more American than Meatloaf. Yea, I know…pedestrian meatloaf….either you love it as great comfort food….or you hate it because your mom served up a rather lifeless one when you were young. (Or maybe you’re vegetarian?…which frankly, this beef-eating girl from Kansas doesn’t really get…but OK). Maybe I can make it so you will like it. Well, maybe not the vegetarians…3 kinds of grass fed meat, prolly not. But for the rest of you? We’ll try.
The nice thing about cherries, is that they go so well with chocolate! (well we ARE all choclaholics in my family). So how about some Brownies! to go with those cherries? (Can you tell I love my heart cookie cutters?) Or if you are strapped for time…there are things at the store called “Brownie Bites” these days…oh sure…just make it that much more CONVENIENT to add bulges to my thighs! (These days I only make brownies at the gkids house…and I LEAVE them there!)
While those are baking…we will tackle the Meatloaf. My grandma Ruby used to make this basic recipe, only she used saltine cracker crumbs which we put in a brown lunch bag and smashed with a rolling pin…talk about get out your aggressions?! Well now we have Italian Bread Crumbs…which taste better to me…and are a whole lot safer. You really don’t want Coop chasing Olivia around the kitchen with a rolling pin!
My gma also used to use only ground beef and Lipton Onion Soup Mix (dry) in hers…but I am trying to reduce the packaged food we all eat, and opted for a mix of grass fed meats, locally butchered: ground pork, ground veal, and ground beef…but I also sometimes use ground turkey. This adds a lot of flavor to the meatloaf. And…the gkids love mushing it all together with their clean little hands!
EWWWW! Nice and gooshy! Cooper really got into it! They were OK until we added the eggs…then it was Nana’s turn!
So the Lincoln Copper Pennies….yea, OK…so maybe they are only orange glazed carrots…but that’s what we’re calling them…and hey…they look like pennies, right? That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! They did have fun peeling the carrots, and the small bit of orange juice I added made them very appealing!
For good measure, and for Cooper’s benefit…he loves mashed potatoes…we added those to our menu. The kids love mashing them. To make them special, I added sour cream.
And now for dessert. First a brownie, then vanilla bean ice cream, then our cherries jubilee (recipe here) with just a drizzle of chocolate sauce! YUM! GEORGE WASHINGTON SMASHED CHERRY CHOCOLATE CHERRIES JUBILEE! ta da! As fun to name as it is to eat!
DECADENT! And Very Presidential, don’t you think?
Enjoy and Happy President’s Day!
Cooking With Nana 