First, we have blogistas who observe Easter in the Greek Orthodox rite, so, Happy Easter, Christ is Risen!
And one thing led to another, ending in meatloaf, a personal first. I had planned on making meatballs with the ground Misfits turkey, then ended up doing shrimp pasta instead. I had originally planned on shrimp with rice, but suddenly fancied trying the new Italian pasta instead.
Soooo, it occurred to me that a great use of the turkey would be meatloaf. Now, full transparency, I have never eaten it, never made it. I think it's served to your family rather than guests. Anyway this famous American comfort food had never appeared on my plate.
I grew up in a period in post WW2 England where edible beef was out of most people's budget. My Mom could afford minced beef so tough and resistant she literally simmered it all night to tenderize it enough for stew.
So no history of meatloaf, in fact she'd have been horrified at the idea. So I studied how to do this
In the second picture you'll see this week's yogurt starting up, why not, while I'm there anyway.
I seemed to have all the makings for meatloaf, cilantro instead of parsley, home pickled onions in beet pickling liquid. garlic, seasonings, all good.
And I made a glaze, apparently you need a glaze, using the last of the ketchup and a bit of molasses with raw sugar.
I mixed the turkey last night because of the yogurt needing the night before start, and left the assembled meatloaf in the fridge, assuming flavors would blend
Today I baked it. Then before finishing, made and added the glaze and finished baking.
And here's the cook's privilege test drive
It was one pound of turkey, so it's shallow, but no harm done for that. And it's pretty good. I'd already had lunch, shrimp pasta, hence the empty plate, because this is next week's dining pleasure.
I've microwaved sweet potatoes for filling pita bread, so a slice of this will make a good sandwich. This is one to do again. It certainly is moist and sliced nicely, two things I understood to look out for, so there's that.
In the course of various other things pinging about what I have realized for some time is my ND (neuro-divergent) brain, I've been thinking about the years when I was thought to be a psychic because I could flash on scenes other people were thinking about and they'd think I'd read their minds.
In a way I had, but I think I was picking up on subtle communication in other ways. To me it seemed perfectly normal no idea other people didn't do this. And I dialled back the comments when I realized other people were really scared by it.
I don't mean common or garden deja vu, I mean knowing entire dialogs which happened between people I didn't know in places I'd never been, which were about to be said by the person I was talking with.
Case in point: at an academic party in Wisconsin, met a writer I'd never heard of, for the first time and he was telling me about an experience he'd had in Oxford.
I flashed on, and blurted out, the whole scene, how he'd turned a corner in a country lane, walking with a friend, and come face to face with a Henry Moore sculpture against a hedge. I'd never read or heard of such a thing, news to me.
He hadn't written about it, anyway I'd never read his writing, and he was stunned, demanded to know how I could know that. I wasn't there, didn't know who he was with. And yet I knew he was going to say it.
He avoided me a bit after that, a bit unnerved, then later made friends, but I suspected he was looking for copy, he being in the middle of a new novel at the time.
My suspicions proved correct when I read it, years later, a lot of familiar dialogue in there.. It's the hazard of hanging out with writers, not a problem.
The apparently psychic ability is, like synaesthesia, another probably ND ability, you assume it's normal because why wouldn't your experience be like everyone else's? Till you find out other people don't think that way.
Anyway it's just a passing thought. You never know what's going to happen in here.
Happy day everyone,
Think your own thoughts. First anniversary of my borrowing this image created by AC.
We are capable of so much more than we realize! Interesting, Boud.
ReplyDeleteI’ve had occasions when things will flash through my mind and then they happen, such as phone calls from friends. Minutes not hours ahead. I don’t talk about it but it happens a lot.
I understand this perfectly! It's like having your own social forecasting service.
DeleteCongrats on making your first meatloaf! Cool facts about your psychic abilities (I'll call them that since it's the common term). Fascinating idea that it has something to do with being neuro-divergent.
ReplyDeleteIt's only recently, in comments from other ND people, that I've finally connected the two.
DeleteI used a psychic, more for entertainment with one of my horses. Now, I was all over the internet at that time so a lot could have been gleaned before we spoke by phone. My trainer and I were together during this. She had a lot that seemed specific to the horse and a couple of things that popped in from another horse or two. When we got wide eyes is when she commented on the scarring on a hind fetlock. She got the leg and placement of it correct, she said it sometimes bothered him. Why we were so taken aback is, I have never, ever brought that wound up on any online site and because he was a dressage horse he always had his legs wrapped in photos. The injury happened after his halter career. I became a believer.
ReplyDeleteMeatloaf....I do not like a glaze or tomato sauce poured over it. It's one of those things you can make however you wish. I really like meatloaf sandwiches.
Interesting about the horse psychic. So funny about the different touches to meatloaf. I guess with a classic everyone has preferences. I quite liked the glaze, more a sauce really.
DeleteForgot to add about the meatloaf. I add shredded carrots to mine for added moisture and texture.
ReplyDeleteI have always figured that humans have far more than five senses. Makes sense, evolutionarily. And just as some people are super-tasters and some people have perfect pitch, some people's ability to sense (?) things is heightened to a fine degree.
ReplyDeleteI always use the meatloaf recipe that came with a box of Lipton Onion Soup mix but I add peppers and onions. I love it. Probably because I am used to it. And I never use a glaze but generally put a few slices of bacon on top.
Yes, I think there are more variations in humans in every way than we realize.
DeleteAnother idea for future meatloaf. If I ever make it again!
That meatloaf looks great! I love a good meatloaf in the cooler times. It feels homey and hearty. and that's a fascinating story about the Oxford encounter!
ReplyDeleteTo me it's a new experience, so the homey part has yet to develop.
DeleteI’ve only cooked meatloaf maybe twice I tried two different recipes and although nice I wasn’t a huge fan of them.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been on the lookout for another to try. I’ll see I think meatloaf sandwiches would be great for the boys over at the workshop. So I’ll try again this winter.
I too will get flashes of “insight”. Especially when I was a much younger child. Yup same reaction. People got scared and avoided me. Or worse I’d get yelled at. So I stopped pretty quickly with the telling.
Eventually I think I just learned to block it all. Maybe why I avoid crowds I think
Sometimes those flashes keep you safe. I think meatloaf sandwiches are a good idea, worth trying again.
DeleteGlad that your turkey meatloaf turned out well, Boud, as my recent try with turkey meatballs was less than successful. I found the ground turkey very difficult to work with as we are avoiding any bread products for a while, so no breadcrumbs and instead I added some ground almonds. The taste was unique to say the least!
ReplyDeleteI used traditional, not the quick variety, oatmeal in this recipe rather than bread crumbs. It worked well.
DeleteWhen I was in college, I idly wrote a poem about the journey of a leaf fallen in a stream and on its way to the sea. Next thing I was invited to the English prof's office, confronted by several other prof's. Apparently Baudelaire wrote essentially the same poem, in French, thank the stars. I had never heard of him, or read the poem, or spoke a syllable of French. I was a 18 year old nincompoop raised by depression era parents. The professors dismissed me with no explanation; it was up to me to figure out what had occurred.
ReplyDeleteThey were probably as baffled as you.
DeleteAnd the verdict on the meatloaf was? We eat ours hot one day and sliced cold in sandwiches after that - with lots of pickle. My mother never made it either until my wee bro came home from visiting a neighbour one day and said she had given them cats meat for lunch and it was very nice. How do you diplomatically ask your neighbour what she put in the catsmeat? Anyway everyone laughed and the recipe has been called catsmeat ever since. We glaze ours with Vegemite. (Lots of umami going on.)
ReplyDeleteTrue NZ daughter with the Vegemite! Not to my taste though. And how it came to your family is funny. I liked mine okay, not wild to repeat but certainly acceptable.
DeleteOne year later, eh? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI make a meatloaf every few months. It’s serves a few meals up front and then goes in the freezer for sandwiches or whatnot. It’s an old recipe, but I substitute plum sauce for ketchup, and some seem to really like it. At least child 2 likes it. D1 does not share her opinion although she does concede that it is not too bad — for meatloaf.
I concur about the ‘for family’ observation.
The family aspect would explain why I've never had it as a guest. The plum sauce is an interesting twist.
DeleteThat meatloaf does look good. I never had it growing up. My mother didn't even know of it. I made it in my adult years and quite enjoyed it, although sparingly. My husband is not really a fan, so it's rare in our home. Such cool stuff about your psychic abilities. I find it all really fascinating.
ReplyDeleteThe meatloaf may be occasional for me, too. It's good but not marvelous.
DeleteThe psychic side still creates fear, I find. And unfunny jokes, which I blow on by. But it's a rich addition to life if you're lucky enough have such ability.
I earned a 'reputation' in Resident Chef's family for a couple of instances that were psychic (if that's the correct term). We were heading north to cut wood for the family and I was terrified as we drove up...I knew, without a doubt, that there was danger but I didn't know how or why. The guys were chainsawing and knocked down one of the trees into a notch in another tree where it hung up. My BIL took the chainsaw and cut it further only to have the entire tree spring lose directly towards his head. He ducked but it knocked his hat off. As soon as that happened I was fine. They no longer question one of my 'feelings'.
ReplyDeleteThere is a kind of knowing that people who don't have it can't quite credit. But it's real.
Delete