Susie Homemaker

Last Friday I wanted to surprise my sweet husband.  I'm not a big chef, but I've been working on cooking one dinner for him a week to improve my skills.  Well, I decided to go all out after about a month of meal prep.  What was on the menu?  Keight Duke's "I would do anything for loaf" (get it?  it's meatloaf!).  We made it once in France for an authentic American meal for our friends Jonathan and Andreas.  As you may recall, we had a toaster oven for all baking needs.  I didn't want to stray from what I already knew so I stuck with the toaster oven method~ crazy?  Crazy awesome that I don't bake in it more...  A meatloaf does not a full meal make.  Remember how I mentioned the farmers' market goodies our friends shared with us?

I put those tiny carrots to work in the meatloaf & minced the baby onion to infuse olive oil....

Aromatics!  That olive oil has been mixed with garlic, baby onion, and pepper.  My mom gave us some fresh parsley which will be used in the same dish...  Also, my laptop is my modern day cookbook.

My mom also gave us some asparagus.  It is chilling by my meatloaf (pre-baked), a jar of sweet tea for me, and tasty beer for my hard working husband.

I didn't use the oven because....

...that's where I was roasting veggies at a hotter temperature!  Farmers' market potatoes got dowsed in my olive oil mixture before feeling the heat.

Some seasoned veggies

A complete meal prepared by me!  It was too miraculous not to share with you!

My happy plate~ Kyle and I both enjoyed every bite.  He said it tasted better than anything he makes, but I think that's mostly because he doesn't always get a homemade meal prepared by me.  He was profusely edifying!

Well, it didn't take me all afternoon to just prepare the meal.  I had to make a dessert while I was passing the time.

The fixings~ peanut butter, sugar, an egg, and some vanilla extract~ PB cookies are the easiest to put together ever.

The sweet and tasty result

When Kyle got home from work, he wanted to capture this rare event for good.  Seeing is not always believing but having evidence that I succeeded once in the kitchen means he can convince me to do it again.  (Thanks Miss Ashley for the cutie apron!)  Also, looking at the cutting board all I can think of is Dana Carvey saying/singing "chopping parsley" (but to the rhythm of chopping broccoli~ chopping parce-a-lee!)

No romantic dinner is complete without some candlelight and a battle of wits.  Kyle challenged me to a Bananagrams match, and I came out victorious in the end!

The meal was a success!

At times I've felt ashamed that I'm not a better cook being the homemaker and having ample opportunity to prepare food.  Perhaps it's silly to be so proud of such a trivial accomplishment.  For me, cooking will always require effort~ I'm not naturally inclined to do it.  I do want to serve my family healthy and balanced meals (and the pressure is on with the baby on the way), and I think blogging about it keeps me motivated.  Hope you don't mind~ all the real foodies would be more impressed with what Kyle does in the kitchen.  Perhaps I'll do a report on his bread making endeavors to show you that this kitchen has a worthy master.  On a final note, if you want any of the recipes you can hit up Food Network's website.  The roasted potatoes and asparagus were Ina Garten recipes and the cookies were all Paula Dean's.  As for the meatloaf, you'll have to ask Mrs. Dukes... bon appetit et vive l'amour!