Friday, in a Funk

I slept until 5:30 AM. Other than a few bathroom trips, I slept through the night for a change. I think that's the longest I've slept in almost a month! Felt good!!

I got dressed and went outside to turn on the sprinkler. I'm watering the new grass and the raised bed garden. While I was out there, I gathered up all the statues (except for the young Shoalin monk) and laid them on the patio on their sides. That way their bottoms that touched the ground will dry out today and I can take them in the house tonight.

When the timer went off, I went back outside and turned off the water. Then I shaved and showered.

I went into work and filled out more paperwork. On the way back I stopped at Home Depot to pick up a few items, and then headed home. I changed back into my shorts and t-shirt and got to work.

I put back all the stuff that I'd moved to clean the siding on the addition. Next, I cleaned the downstairs shower stall. I mixed up two gallons of herbicide to spray the driveway grass, but when I went out, I feared the wind was blowing a bit too much. So, I'll try and hit it tomorrow morning.

Back inside, I washed up. I am a little bummed today and think I require comfort food. So, I mixed up a simple meatloaf (one pound pork, one pound ground chuck, onions, seasoning, eggs, breadcrumbs, water, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and about a cup of the mushrooms I'd saut�ed, rough chopped) and put it in a bowl in the fridge to let the flavors marry.

I got a brush and went out on the patio. I brushed the dirt off the bottom of each statue and carried it inside for the winter.

At 6:15 PM, I turned on the oven to preheat it to 350 degrees F. I took my bowl of meatloaf mix out of the fridge and shaped it into a loaf (I never bake my meatloaf in a loaf pan because I believe that you are just trapping all the fat in that pan). I formed it into a nice sized loaf and set it on a rack, inside a tin foil-lined half sheet pan. Instead of my usual bacon, I topped it with swirls of ketchup; like my Mother used to do (I told you I need comfort food!) When the preheated signal went off, I popped it in the oven and set the stove timer for an hour.

Then I peeled enough potatoes to almost fill a medium saucepan (first, the three last small russets I had and the rest were Yukon Gold). I filled the pan with cold water (always start potatoes in cold water, but you probably already know that) and some salt. I let that sit until it was time to fire it up. I also opened a jar of store-bought brown gravy and put that in the little saucepan, also waiting for the right moment.

I dug out a stick of butter, one egg and about 1/2 cup of milk and let that sit, so it would come up to room temperature. Then I went in a watched the rest of the 6:00 o'clock news.

After the meatloaf had been in the oven for about 30 minutes, I went out and started the potatoes. When they were fork tender, I drained them and put them back in the saucepan. Just then, the timer went off for the meatloaf. I check the internal temp and it was 173 degrees F. (I was looking for at least 170), so I took it out to rest. I started warming up the gravy while I mashed the potatoes.

When the potatoes were done, so was the gravy so I cut off two nice slices of meatloaf and plated everything. I grabbed my plate and wandered in to see what was on TV (slim pickings and Friday Night Fights is on hiatus).

I really enjoyed dinner. The only complaint I had about the meatloaf was that damn ketchup on top (too sweet!). I couldn't finish the food on my plate, of course. I watched a few taped shows and then, when the meatloaf was cool, I wrapped it in tin foil. I put it, the leftover potatoes and the rest of the gravy into the fridge.

I left the mess for the morning and went to bed around 10:00 PM.