Hiya Darling Ones,

It’s roughly 823º in Supergenius HQ at the moment and I am not a fan. Seriously, I’m breaking a sweat just typing, The oven’s been on for an hour and there’s nothing my house enjoys more than roasting me alive.

Opening the windows is a no go. Old ass, nearly impossible windows + stroke imbalance + Floppy Scoop = hella stuffy in here.

When I planned this week’s meals it was like 50º out and meatloaf sounded perfect. I like eat seasonally and meatloaf is totally an autumn food. The only summery food I have left are Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches, and those are bad for a diabetic’s dinner.

I’m telling you all this because I want to talk about this meatloaf. If I get to choose my last supper, it will totally be meatloaf, but probably not this one.

The one tonight I kinda freewheeled and it will be either my greatest creation or an abomination in the eyes of the lord. It’s still in the oven, so right now it’s Schrödinger’s meatloaf.

My cooking instincts are generally pretty decent. I grew up in restaurant kitchens and learned a ton from two, old Wisconsin ladies who worked for my dad in the late eighties. Carol and Delores are the ones who taught me use my instincts and that recipes were merely suggestions.

While my instincts are good, my hubris is even greater.

So this meatloaf (now resting on the stove) contains: Old Dutch Onion & Garlic Chips instead of breadcrumbs; roasted red peppers; diced red onion; eggs; ground beef; Worcestershire sauce; some minced garlic; two scoops of garlic chili crisp; and 22 turns of the pepper grinder.

It’s glazed with a sauce made of ketchup, red pepper jelly, some more chili crisp, and four or five shakes of Louisiana hot sauce.

If it tastes as good as it looks (see above) and smells (trust me), y’all better get my James Beard nomination in. I’m a little afraid, but I like to live dangerously.

Chef’s kiss,
Jodi