Our First Meal at the Table!

I finally got enough boxes unpacked yesterday for us to all sit down at the table for dinner. It was very plain, simple food. I made sage meatloaf, Rice-a-Roni because I was too lazy to make the Lorraine potatoes I'd planned, steamed broccoli, and artichokes. I found the meatloaf bland, but J loved it. The kids hate meatloaf of any kind, although Pie liked this one. They love burgers, hate meatloaf. I don't get it. I bet if I made meatloaf into patties and called it burgers, they'd love it. Pie loved the Rice-a-Roni. Boot liked it, too. Surely I have made Rice-a-Roni sometime in the past 5 years, but it was completely new to them. J said she loved dinner & Boot said, "I'm sorry, but I hated it." He was really nice about it, though, and amended it to "I did like the Rice-a-Roni" to make up for saying he hated it. LOL! What he really liked were the strawberries with sugar and cream J made for dessert. He drank all the remaining cream after we were finished, like a little cat. My strawberries went to bed with me. I like them better unadorned, but J adds sugar & cream because she loves us, so I don't complain. My favorite part of the meal was the artichokes, leaves dipped in melted key lime butter. Boot watched us scrape the leaves with our teeth & asked how we could possibly eat that. We offered to share, but were turned down.

Since J loved the meatloaf, I'll post the recipe in case someone else does, too.

Sage Meatloaf

2/3 c. dry breadcrumbs 1 tbsp. sage
3/4 c. milk 1 tsp. salt
2 large eggs, beaten 1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. finely-chopped onion 1 lb. ground beef
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 1/2 lb. ground pork

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Soak milk and crumbs together for 5 minutes. Add eggs, onion, Worcestershire sauce, sage, salt, pepper. Mix well. Add meats and mix. Put in loaf pan and bake 1 1/2 hours. Let stand 5-10 minutes before slicing.