Tennessee Meatloaf: a Parton Family Favorite on the Food Network

Tennessee Meatloaf: a Parton Family Favorite on the Food Network

This is the recipe for the Tennessee Meatloaf I made for the girls.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Mix together beef, crumbs, egg, onion, salt, pepper and 1/2 of tomato sauce. Form into loaf and put into shallow pan. Combine rest of the tomato sauce and all the other ingredients. Pour over loaf. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Baste occasionally.

Thanksgiving & The Bumpus Hounds

On the surface: Tender turkey, moist stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes & green bean casserole with an assortment of pies & cake for dessert.  Huge hit.

The back story: I was afraid I miscalculated the cooking time on the turkeys & dinner would be an hour late. The original dessert I bought, I took out too early & it went moldy.  Thank heavens for BJ's warehouse in Cary!! The mashed potatoes were a Sysco product, because I was worried about getting everything done so I cheated w/frozen. Never again! I thought they were too watery & tasteless, so I added cottage cheese, garlic & black pepper.  Several girls told me how yummy they were.  I was freaking out so bad I made the first batch of stuffing an hour early. I only made one green bean casserole because that's all the cream of mushroom soup I had enough for. Damn clam chowder base was in the same row & I thought I had 4 cans instead of 2.  It ended up being enough so it was fine, but it added to the stress.  Niles & Luca ended up hanging out for a bit because Gina went to get them, stopped at BJ's for the pie & then helped me get everything out on time. So Niall came to get them & bring them home.  By the time dinner went out on time, I would not have been shocked if the Bumpus hounds ran through my kitchen.  Apparently traditional holiday meals are stressful, no matter who you cook them for.

Southern Week

So far this week, I've made fried chicken w/sweet potato fries & Tennessee meatloaf w/mashed potatoes, fried cabbage & green beans.  The food has been a success, so I think they are enjoying it. 

Chili cook off went well, other than no clean up in my kitchen, which made me...a bit testy.  I am looking forward thought to a  much needed break over Thanksgiving.  I need to make granola this week, but haven't been very motivated to do so, between the not cleaning up & the business of my life.  Meatloaf & mashed potatoes are a MAJOR pain in the ass to cook & clean up from. 

Strawberries seem to have finally gone out of season, even from the farmer's market, so I am looking for a fresh fruit to add to the salad bar.  Ordered some raspberries today, so we'll see how those are.  Blueberries are good, but they tend to eat them better when they are mixed w/other fruits.

Tomorrow's dinner is Cajun Pasta & Thursday is Jambalaya....wonder how that will play out....

Suggestion Box

The girls put out a suggestion box for me this week.  The young lady who asked me has been very sweet.  She wants to make sure everyone is being nice to me in their comments.  :)

So far, the most popular suggestion has been Southern Food.  I'm not entirely sure what this means.  I am from the Northern Aggressor States & all....  But next week, they're getting what Gina has told me is her version: Tennessee Meatloaf w/mashed potatoes, Jambalaya, Fried Chicken.....when she brought up collards & ham hocks though I drew the line.  URK.

Since I've still been tired from the strep throat, we ran out of granola & I haven't made more....there may be a riot soon.  And they aren't eating as much fruit. Haven't figured out if there's a connection yet. But I'm guessing there is.

Lemon Garlic Chicken

Dinner last night came out well.  I tried a new recipe again.

Chicken breasts
lemon juice
black pepper
minced garlic
butter
paprika
lemon wedges

Marinate chicken in lemon juice, melted butter, garlic, pepper & paprika several hours, ideally overnight.  Bake at 350 about 30 minutes until done.  Serve w/lemon wedges.  It was a big hit.  Also served w/fingerling potatoes, tossed w/olive oil & some granulated garlic & pepper, then baked & some steamed carrots.