The Boston Pregame

I sound like I'm in college with that title, ha!

I cooked my brains out today, and I am HAPPY about that! I'm making dinner for my two favorite ladies in the world (my mom and sister) before we go off to Boston tomorrow. At first I was only going to make the main course - turkey meatloaf - but then I thought I'd fiddle around with a side dish, too. Then I thought, I should make a BBQ glaze for the meatloaf. And then I made a small lunch with some fabulous flavor.

I wish I had pictures of any of these things. Bear with me.

The turkey meatloaf was run-of-mill. Ground turkey, an egg, a handful of breadcrumbs, s&p, ketchup, a finely chopped green pepper, garlic and a generous shake of steak seasoning. My last meatloaf went overboard on the breadcrumbs, and made it taste savory (or, as my Dad said, like stuffing). I want the meat and the flavor, so I tried not to go nuts with them this time!

I love my side dish. I mixed up olive oil, lemon juice, s&p, and garlic chunks, then brushed the liquid over chopped zukes, yellow squash and sweet peppers. Then I made a tomato basil pesto (I do love my dad's pesto, but sometimes I can't wrap my head around the green).by blending sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, basil and a little olive oil. That went on top of the veggies, and, the "piece de resistance" - crumbled goat cheese on top, back into the oven for 20 minutes. Glory.

The BBQ sauce was FUN to make - like tossing everything into a bowl and hoping for the best! I used ketchup as a base, then evened it out a few shakes of soy sauce, hot sauce, brown sugar, apple butter, pumpkin butter and cinnamon. I have practically no honey left, so I had to find a way to compensate. I let it all simmer in a pan for about half an hour. It's not terrible. But I may be a little more formulaic next time. ;)

This is EXCITING! I'm not exactly a great cook by ANY means, but it calms me down and it makes me feel like I'm somewhat grown up. I should start packing it all up to get ready to go to my mom's. I'll hopefully blog from Bahhhston next time!