Food, fun and memories

The weekend was nice , I cooked lunch for the family Saturday, meatloaf and mashed potatoes and black olives were on the menu! YUM! there were 14 of us there this weekend and dinner was nice! My mom, sister and sister in law all made or brought a dish also, so there was PLANTY of food for all with only a little left over. Leftover meatloaf sandwiches! YUM!!

Meatloaf for 16:
5 Lbs of beef
1 LARGE green pepper diced into small pieces
4 Ounces of dried onion
2-4Ounce cans mushrooms drained and diced into small pieces
6 Eggs
5 cups Rolled Oats
Garlic to taste
*combine all the ingrediants and cook for one hour at 350 degrees.
**I use a rectangular cake pan and form a round loaf instead of using a bread pan.
***45 minutes into the cook time drain the grease and add the glaze.

Meatloaf glaze:
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 teaspoon mustard powder
3 tsp. Tabasco chipotle salsa (use sparingly and to taste! this stuff can be HOT for those who do not appreciate spicey sauces)
*mix ingrediant and warm gently to melt the sugar.
**45 minutes into the cooking time drain the grease off the meatloaf and coat the meatloaf with the glaze.

Mashed potato's W/ skins for 16:
5Lbs. Klondike Gold Potoato's
1 Cup+/- of butter
Garlic to taste
*cut potato's into chunks (leaving the skin on) and cook till tender, drain and add butter and garlic to taste.
**You can also use Olive oil to replace some of the butter, and Italian seasoning will change the flavor also.

Gravy:
The grease drained from the meatloaf
The liquid from the Potato's
1/2 cup of flour
3/4 cup of cold water
*Combine grease and potato water and bring to a boil, in a seperate cup add flour and cold water and mix, then add flour paste to boiling liquid and heat till thickened.
**You can add garlic or any other spice to give the gravy a kick.

YA! I enjoy cooking! it is VERY relaxing for me.
Later for now!

Me~~


Memories:
An old memory came floating back to me this week, I must have been like 11 or 12, there were four or five churches that had gotten together for an Awana event, while I do not remember much about the event itself I do remember that afterword everybody spent the night at Shilo community church. It was a "lock-in" even with both the boys and girls "try that these days, you'd raise an eyebrow or three!" It was fun! there were more games and plenty of pizza, soda and junk food! YUM!
It's nice when I remeber things like this, pleasant old memories that float through your mind and run aground once in a while.