A Cold Day in Hell, er, Redford

It was zero degrees F. in Redford when I woke up Tuesday morning and the wind chill temps were frightening.

But, by the way of comparison, I checked (and this is without wind chill): Amy’s high was predicted to be 2 degrees below zero today , while Jeremy and I were supposed to top out at 11-14 degrees. Melissa (who’s always complaining about the cold in North Carolina) was 39 degrees and Jake and Carla’s high was 48 degrees F.

On the other hand, Canada Cathy (who I always picture as living in the Artic zone, next to an igloo – I’ve been there in winter… I know) is supposed to be having a high of 23 degrees F.! WTF?

You could feel the cold radiate off the bathroom tiles on the west side of the house. So, as an experiment, I used my instant read cooking thermometer to check the temperature and it was over 10 degrees less than the ambient 72 degrees in the house the thermostat claimed. But, this is an old house and not well insulated, I’m sure.

I had to force myself to leave the warm shower and go to work. I had taken out my down-filled jacket (which I almost never wear because it is too hot for me) last night and I wore that to work.

Needless to say, I didn’t walk outside in the morning (or even in the afternoon). But, I had determined before lunch I wanted to make a meat loaf and baked potatoes for supper. Not that I was craving either, I just wanted an excuse to have the oven on!

So, I went to Kroger’s and got a green pepper, two russet baking potatoes and a pound each of ground pork and ground chuck. Then I drove home to drop it all off and warmed up a can of Hormel chili for my lunch.

Back home after work, I retrieved my garbage can and went inside to warm up with a cup of coffee after treating the cats. The weatherman agreed with my car and said it was 13 degrees F.

I preheated the oven to 425 degrees F. I washed the two potatoes, dried them off and pricked them with a fork. Then I rubbed them with olive oil and sprinkled a lot of Kosher salt on them. I put them in the oven, directly on the rack, and proceeded to assemble my meat loaf.

In a big bowl I put the pound of ground chuck and the pound of ground pork, about two teaspoons of salt, a half-teaspoon of black pepper, about a cup each of  chopped onion and green pepper, two eggs (lightly beaten), a can of diced tomatoes and a cup of quick-cooking rolled oats. At the last minute, I added in a half-teaspoon of red pepper flakes (for heat) and a teaspoon of thyme (for Carl).

I squished that all together, using both hands and set it aside. I washed up and then made a simple glaze of 2/3 cup of ketchup, 4 tablespoons of brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of prepared yellow mustard.

I lined my cake pan with tinfoil (for easier cleanup) and then formed the meat mixture into a loaf inside it. I never make my meatloaf in a bread or loaf pan as that traps the grease in. I like my meatloaf moist, not greasy.

I spread the glaze on top of it, turned the oven down to 375 degrees and popped the pan inside. I set the timer for an hour and cleaned up the kitchen.

When the timer went off, I checked and the potatoes were done. So I took the meatloaf out to rest a bit, then cut off two slices. I opened up one of the potatoes and topped it with sour cream and finely sliced green onion.

It was pretty good, but a little loose. I think I should have drained the diced tomatoes. And, I was thinking that, based on how Jake likes to make his vegetable soup, next time I might try mixing ground chuck with ground turkey. That might be good. I just am not that fond of a “all beef” tasting meatloaf. My all time favorite is the old fashioned 1/3 ground beef, 1/3 ground pork and 1/3 ground veal mixture, but veal ain’t that cheap these days. Of course, neither is ground turkey, lol!

Full and warm, I watched TV for a while. Then I put the leftover meatloaf and potato in the fridge and went to bed.