Hobie Cat.

Wasn't Hobie the cutest puppy?

 

How do you not love that face? That little nose? The white stripe?

We'll just pretend that as a puppy she didn't pee on the shoes of everyone that walked in the door.

And I'll just keep ignoring the chewed up corner on the coffee table. I know, I know...it's been six years and may be time for an upgrade.

And I'll just keep stepping over all 110 pounds of her as she lays in the middle of the kitchen every afternoon.





It's possible that she is the laziest dog of all time.

I repeat, OF ALL TIME.

Anyone in the market for a Newf? No? Let me know if you change your mind. 

How about a friendly black lab? She gives free pedicures. No? Come on!


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Workout: Cardio - 50 minutes, Weights - biceps, shoulders, legs, abs


Week 7 Weight-In: Lost 2 pounds. Woohoo!


Total Weight Lost: 12 pounds


Remaining: 8 pounds (Note: if all 8 pounds could come off my gluteus maximus I would really appreciate it. Thanks.)

Meatloaf. It's What's for Dinner.

I'm not sure if you know this but The Pioneer Woman is my blogging hero. The woman is amazing. She's a city girl transplanted to a cattle farm in rural Oklahoma where she lives with her cowboy husband and their four 'punks'. She cooks, she gardens, she shops, she takes amazing photographs, she homeschools, and she's hilarious. 

The Pioneer Woman started her blog several years ago and it has expanded into photography showcases, children's books, a novel of their love story and a cookbook. I loved her novel but her cookbook is my favorite. It's step by step photos of how to make her favorite recipes. The best part is you don't even have to buy the book since all of her recipes are on her blog. But be careful, it's tricky to have your laptop sitting on the counter while concocting cowboy food. 

My bestie Jen and I were chatting the other night about what we've been cooking for dinner lately. I've been in an asparagus and broccoli slump and was looking for new ideas. Meatloaf came up so I decided to try out PW's meatloaf recipe. I was not raised on meatloaf so I'm not really familiar -- in fact I don't think my mom even has a recipe for it. My mom is a fabulous cook but she definitely errs on the side of chicken.

The meatloaf was so simple to make. I was shocked. 

Start with regular old bread...

And dump a cup of milk over it. Let it get soggy for a few minutes.

Then take 2 pounds of ground beef and place it in a bowl. Holy crap -- I had no idea how much meat 2 pounds is. We may be eating meatloaf until next Christmas.

Add 1 cup of Parmesan to the meat bowl.

Then add 1 teaspoon of Jane's Krazy Mixed Up Salt...that I imported from the States. Canada really sucks sometimes.

Add a teaspoon of regular salt.

And throw in ground black pepper just for the hell of it.

Add in 1/3 cup parsley. Don't you think brightly colored measuring cups makes everything more fun? I do.

Beat 4 eggs. Pretend their your boss. Or your dog. Whoever has annoyed you more today.

Pour them in the bowl too.

Now wash your hands and remove all your expensive costume jewelry. No one wants to eat a diamond.

Oh, add in the bread and milk too.

Mix, mash and squeeze the daylights of it. 

Yup, get right in there. Don't be bashful.

Once you've taken out all your aggression, shape it into a loaf-looking monstrosity.

Now comes the fun part. Wrap it in bacon. Lay each piece over the top and tuck the ends underneath.

For the sauce you'll need some ketchup and 6 tablespoons of brown sugar. Try not to eat the brown sugar right off the spoon. 

Mix in 1 teaspoon of dry mustard.

Then pour in hot sauce. As much as you want. If you've got a hint of red hair like me you'll want to add more. 

Take some sauce and cover the meatloaf with a thin layer. Then pop that bad boy in the oven for 45 minutes. After the 45 minutes are up add another layer of sauce and put it back in the over for 15 more minutes. You'll use the remaining sauce for dipping.

Woohoo! All the men in your life will love you forever.

We had so much meatloaf that even after inviting John over for dinner there was still half left. I told you, this will be Christmas dinner.

Copy and Pasteable:


Pioneer Woman's Favorite Meatloaf


Prep Time: 20 minutes, maybe 15.
Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients: 2 lbs ground beef, 6 slices of bread, 1 cup milk, 4 eggs, 1/3 cup parsley, 1 tsp salt, ground black pepper, 1 tsp mixed salt, 1 cup parmesean, 12 slices of bacon, 1.5 cup ketchup, 6 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp dry mustard, splash hot sauce

1. Pour milk over bread and let sit for 5 minutes.

2. In separate bowl combine meat, cheese, salt, pepper, eggs (beaten) and parsley.

3. Add in bread and milk.

4. Mix together with your hands.

5. Shape into loaf format.

6. Lay bacon over the loaf, tucking the edges underneath.

7. In separate bowl, combine ketchup, hot sauce, brown sugar and dry mustard.

8. Spread 1/3 of the sauce over the loaf.

9. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes.

10. Remove loaf and  put an additional 1/3 sauce on top. Bake for 15 minutes.

11. Serve remaining sauce as dip.

12. Enjoy!

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Workout: nothing. I'm sick. I can't breathe and my head is pounding. It's a miracle I even wrote this blog tonight. I'm going to bed. See you next week.

NOT Aunt Jemima.

Well, you can all breathe a sigh of relief -- we made it to the sugar shack before it closed down for the season. Whew! I was starting to sweat it but we finally squeaked in a trip to the woods this weekend. 

What's a sugar shack, you ask? Why it's where Maple syrup comes from. Duh. 

Basically, it's a Maple tree farm. The trees are tapped every year and the sap is collected to boil down to syrup.

There are a few ways to do this. The fancy method is to tap the tree and run tubing from tree to tree on a downward slope. This way the sap flows into one central spot.

The old school way is to hang a bucket below each tap. It's more labor intensive as each bucket has to be collected and emptied periodically. I think that's why farmers reproduce, if you catch my drift. wink, wink.

If you're the lucky duck in charge of collecting the sap you get to collect it while driving this cool ole tractor. It even comes with it's own tank to empty the buckets into.

This time of year they're about to shut down as its getting warmer outside. But you can see why they use the tractor. It's a lot of freakin' buckets to collect.

Anyway, the maple sap eventually ends up in the sugar shack. 

Here it is slowly boiled to 220 degrees. It takes about 3-4 hours.

They use a wood burning stove to heat the maple sap until it reaches the perfect temperature and turns to syrup.

Then they drain it into the bottles and sell it to make the big bucks. 

It takes 40 gallons of sap to produce 1 gallon of pure maple syrup.

By the way, I know all of this because the nice old farmer caught me and Carla snooping around (I may have been climbing a ladder to get a photo) and gave us a syrup-making lesson.





They don't just make syrup either. You can feast on maple butter, maple cream, or maple candy.

Maple cream is best served in a ice cream cone.





Or in maple leaf format. That's my personal favorite.





But the real fun is making your own lollipop. That's the whole point of hiking through the woods. It's why we go. It's what I live for.

You start by purchasing a $2 popsicle stick and then make your way over to the snow table. Here the nice man pours hot syrup on the snow where it slowly solidifies.





While it's warm you start rolling...





And roll...





And roll.





Viola! Maple deliciousness.





While finishing the walk you can enjoy your treat.





The best part is there are three shacks in the same stretch of woods so sticks can be refilled as you walk through the woods. I mean, who doesn't want three maple lollipops in the span of an hour?





Buyer Beware: Don't pet your dog until you've washed the stickiness off your hands. Eww.


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Workout: Cardio - 30 minutes, Weights - biceps, triceps