EATING YOUR STUPID (aired March 26)

Today’s show was entitled “Eating Your Stupid”. For feeling stupid. And Eating. Maybe at the same time. Anyways, I've got a lot of recipes for feeling stupid, including Sloppy Joe’s, baked eggplant parmesan, brussel sprouts with white beans and pecorino cheese, and last but not feast, krispy kreme bread pudding. Oh. my. Word. What have we done to the donut.

Sloppy Joe's

Ingredients:

1 Pound Lean Ground Beef

1 Can Tomato Sauce

1 Onion, Chopped

¼ Cup Catsup

1 Tablespoon Granulated Sugar

1 ½ Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tablespoon Cider Vinegar

½ Bell Pepper, Sliced

Hamburger buns

Directions:

In a large skillet brown the meat with the onions over medium high heat. Discard fat and add remaining ingredients. Bring contents to a boil; reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Divide equal parts of Sloppy Joe mixture over each hamburger bun. Toast your hamburger buns for an extra texture.

Baked Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients

• 3 eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
• 1 (16 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes on each side.
3. In a 9x13 inch baking dish spread spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses. Sprinkle basil on top.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

I always feel stupid when I hear people around me speaking French. Well, see...I don’t speak French, and I always assume that they must be talking about selling pastries...because they’re speaking French...and that I’m just sitting there like a silent clown in front of them. Ohhhhhh dear...do they think I’m trying to be one of their mimes? I hope not. Well, I’m sitting there in front of them, probably like a mime (eck), too intimidated to ask them if I can purchase any pastries from them. So, of course, my mind wanders to the next best thing – Is Dunkin’ Donuts open. – and if so, will they have Crullers? You know, the FRENCH donut. When I order them, I like to say Crruyaayz, because, deep down, I want to sound as intellijannt as the French people do. Wi wi, pu pu!

Brussels Sprouts with White Beans and Pecorino Cheese

Pecorino is a very sharp, aged hard cheese typically made from sheep’s milk. It is known for its strong, salty flavor, and will definitely add some zing to your Brussels Sprouts, the tiniest member of the cabbage family!

Ingredients:

8 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
2 lbs Brussel Sprouts, trimmed, cut in half lengthwise
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
1 15oz can cannellini beans, drained
2 tbsp butter
1 cup coarsely grated pecorino cheese

Directions:
Heat 3 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. When just about to smoke, add half of brussel sprouts. Cook until brown, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Transfer to large bowl. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in same skillet and repeat with remaining pound of brussel sprouts. Transfer brussel sprouts to same bowl.
Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to skillet, increase heat to high. Add garlic; saut? until brown, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Add broth and brussel sprouts. Cook until brussel sprouts are crisp tender, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. Add beans and butter; stir until butter melts and broth is reduced to a glaze, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in cheese.

The worst is when you do things that you think seem like really good or maybe even smart ideas at the time. Like pudding balloons. Which surprisingly aren’t as easy to assemble as the water balloon, their close cousin. Or watching re-runs of court dramas on television. I’ll tell you – if I’ve seen the Law and Order SVU episode with the 8^th graders deep in the hmm-hmm scandal ONCE, I’ve seen it THREE to SIX TIMES. Each time, I think to myself, this time, THIS TIME might be better. Maybe I’ll notice more clues. Maybe it’ll just be a relaxing way to spend an hour...or 47 minutes...plus commercials. But before you know it, an hour passes by, and pretty soon it’s 11am (...why wouldn't Law and Order SVU start at 10am...?)and I realize for the 3^rd time that what I just did was time-down-the-toilet and I’m never going to get that time back. Repeatable offenses like that...those can really make you feel stupid. I blame Law and Order. They're written to be too intriguing for the weak-willed. We can't help ourselves.

Paula Deen's very own Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding

!!!

Ingredients
· 2 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts (!)
· 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
· 2 (4.5-ounce) cans fruit cocktail with juice
· 2 eggs, beaten
· 1 (9-ounce) box raisins
· 1 pinch salt
· 1 or 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cube donuts into a large bowl. Pour other ingredients on top of donuts and let soak for a few minutes. Mix all ingredients together until donuts have soaked up the liquid as much as possible. Bake for about 1 hour until center has jelled. Top with Butter Rum Sauce.

Ingredients and Directions for that Butter Rum Sauce:
1 stick butter
1 pound box confectioners' sugar
Rum, to taste
Melt butter and slowly stir in confectioners' sugar. Add rum and heat until bubbly. Pour over each serving of Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding.

Bottom Line: Maybe you feel stupid sometimes, but that doesn't make you stupid all the times.
Also, even if you feel really really stupid, you're definitely smarter than the ringworm. Cause whenever I see a ringworm trying to make its worm-ring, I'm like "for serious?! what, that's like all you can do?! Get a life!"

ok, i'm going to leave you with that image for now. over and out until next time~!

Check out the press around some parts of town!

http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2009/03/04/life/doc49ad6e5425700749003883.txt

eating your love

EATING YOUR LOVE (valentine's edition) aired 2/13/09

So here on Eating Your Feelings, each week honors a new feeling with recipes for the food you eat when you feel the need to eat said feelings. And today is really unique because we have the good fortune to have two really intriguing consecutive holidays in our midst – Valentine’s Day is tomorrow and Friday the 13^th happens to be today. So if you’re feeling unlucky, or you’re feeling in love, or both, this show has something in store for you! This afternoon, this EPIC afternoon, in honor of both holidays, we will explore the ways to eat through feelings of love and bad luck as it relates to love. Yes, it will certainly be epic…or more like Epic…curion. Yes, yes, that is a pun. Perhaps it is bad. But did you know that BAD PUN happens to be abbreviated in my mind as “bun”, and I find buns delicious, so it looks like the jokes on you.

No, sorry about that, today we talked about feeling in love and feeling unlucky in love and featuring some thematically-appropriate recipes, including ones for molten chocolate lava cakes, jam-filled scones, and lemon chickpea stir-fry. Now, if you’re thinking “WOAH THERE. SLOW IT DOWN, that list is mighty overwhelming! And I will agree with you but only for the moment. But! No worries, I will explain each one with care and tenderness, just as I would want these recipes to treat me.

Recipe for Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes

SERVES 6

Ingredients

6 (1 ounce) bittersweet chocolate squares


2 (1 ounce) semi-sweet chocolate baking squares


10 tablespoons butter


1/2 cup all-purpose flour


1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar


3 large eggs


3 egg yolks


1 teaspoon vanilla extract


2 tablespoons Grand Marnier

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F Grease 6 (6-ounce) custard cups. Melt chocolates and butter in the microwave or in a double boiler. Add flour and sugar to chocolate mixture. Stir in eggs until smooth. Stir in vanilla and Grand Marnier. Divide batter evenly among custard cups. Bake for 14 minutes. Edges should be firm but the center will be runny. Run a knife around the edge to loosen and invert onto dessert plate. Top with vanilla ice cream or raspberry sauce.

So one particular reason why Valentine’s is such an appropriate holiday for the show to talk about is that Valentine's Day began as a feast day, believe it or not, of two different Christian martyrs named Valentine. Now I don’t know how that became the disjointed crazy it is now, but I think one of the continuities can be found in the fact that Valentine’s Day, for some, like myself, is still very much a Feast Day. It’s actually the 4^th biggest holiday of the year for confectionary purchases, following Halloween, Easter, and Flag Day. Just kidding. That last one is actually Christmas, and not Flag Day. So one of the most popular candies floating around this time of year is the Conversation Heart, that chalky little nuggetofhumor. And this candy goes way back in time to the Early American Colonists who started the tradition of making homemade candies with love notes scratched into them. The New England Confectionary Company (now Necco) expanded on this idea and created the conversation heart in the mid-1800s. and in 1860, Daniel Chase, brother of Necco founder Oliver Chase, invented the process to print motto candies. The candies were originally not in the shape of hearts, but in the shapes of cockles- small, scallop shaped candies wrapped in paper with sayings printed on the paper. In 1900, candies with sayings inscribed directly on them were invented and called Sweet Hearts. Originally the sayings were rather long, but over time they became shorter and more to the point, such as "Be Mine." “My Man” and “Call me”. In the years immediately following these new phrases, requests were made to the company for additional, more responsive phrases, including “No Thanks”, “Washing Hair”, “Not You”, “It’s Me”, and “Stop Winking”.

Recipe for JAMMERS!

Ingredients

	2	cups all-purpose, unbleached white flour
	½	tsp. salt
	2	tsp. baking powder
	½	tsp. baking soda
	½	cup unsalted butter, cold
	⅔	cup low-fat buttermilk
	½	cup jam or fruit preserves: raspberry, strawberry, cherry, or apricot

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Cut butter into dry ingredients with a knife (or your fingers) until the mixture is crumbly like cornmeal, leaving some large pieces of butter as well. Pour buttermilk into bowl with dry ingredients and stir with a fork, just until the dough comes together. If necessary, add more buttermilk.
3. On a floured surface, gather dough into a ball, then roll it out into a ½-inch-thick circle. With floured biscuit or cookie cutters, cut out biscuits. Press together any scraps, then roll out and cut remaining biscuits.
4. With the back of a floured spoon or your thumb, make an indentation in the center of each biscuit. Spoon a teaspoon of jam into each indentation.
5. Place jammers on a large baking sheet — with an extra baking sheet placed directly underneath to avoid burning the bottoms of the biscuits — and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until lofty and golden brown. Serve warm.

Love is a beautiful thing. It’s idealistic, all-consuming, confusing, unintelligible, and never, ever easy. Then why do we insist on seeking it out in almost all our stories and movies and songs and art and poetry and friendly neighbors? We are a culture obsessed with love. We like it pure and simple – with fireworks and European cities and surprise rare metal jewelry. We think about it when we’re little in terms of family and wedding rings and dances with teenagers, and then as we get older, it becomes more and more practical and still more and more mystifying. What’s more, it starts to come down to that issue of luck and unluck. There are lucky people who find their soulmates easily, who recognize love as the feeling they want it to be and they also usually go to vending machines where they get two bags of Doritos when they only paid for one. The unlucky people get discouraged more easily, maybe they meet the wrong people too many times or maybe what they want or expect of feeling in love is not what they’re ready for. Oh, and they also paid for that first dangling bag of Doritos. And for those people, well…today’s your day to change it all up. I firmly believe that luck is very relative, unless it’s about the McDonald’s Monopoly game, and in that case, it can’t be relative because NO ONE CAN WIN THAT GAME!! But in all other cases, like they say in Batman, “you make your own luck.” And if you are able only to trust very little in this world, please trust the writers of Batman. Why?! Well, they WROTE. BATMAN. I don’t know how I can be more clear.

Recipe for Lemony Chickpea Stir-fry

Ingredients:

2 tablespoon ghee or extra-virgin olive oil
fine grain sea salt
1 small onion or a couple shallots, sliced
1 cup cooked chickpeas (canned is fine, if you don't want to cook up a pot of dried chickpeas)
8 ounces extra-firm tofu
1 cup of chopped kale
2 small zucchini, chopped
zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon

Directions:

Heat 1 tablespoon of the ghee/olive oil In a large skillet over medium-high heat and stir in a big pinch of salt, the onion, and chickpeas. Saute until the chickpeas are deeply golden and crusty. Stir in the tofu and cook just until the tofu is heated through, just a minute or so. Stir in the kale and cook for one minute more. Remove everything from the skillet onto a large plate and set aside. In the same skillet heat the remaining tablespoon of ghee/olive oil, add the zucchini and saute until it starts to take on a bit of color, two or three minutes. Add the chickpea mixture back to the skillet, and remove from heat. Stir in the lemon juice and zest, taste, and season with a bit more salt if needed. Turn out onto a platter and serve family style.

Serves 2 - 4.

Stir-fry is THE MOST romantic food preparation technique you will ever encounter. I promise. You may disagree, say “well, I don’t know about that. What about…hey what about…?” What about what. “Well, what about something you get to use your hands with, there’s that thing that gets your hands really engaged…?” I don’t know. You must be thinking of PLAY-DOUGH. Just, just, listen, okay? TRUST ME on this one. Simple equation, okay, stir-fry equals most romantic…times 3. Because have you heard vegetables in a stir-fry together? They make friends real fast, I’ll tell you that. They’re rubbing all on each other, getting their flavors all mixed together, they start lettin’ off steam. They are making each other sweat. Pure vegetable juice sweat. And then, AND THEN, now this part you have to be PRETTY ASTUTE to pick up on it, but if you’re really quiet, you can even hear them whispering sweet nothings to each other. You think, “nooo! That’s sizzling!” Well, Bless your naivetee. Probably better off you didn’t hear them. Zucchini has quite the vivid imagination. It’s really disgusting, if you ask me. And Kale is so easily swooned by all that gush, she’s just fainting left and right, passing out on top of all the other vegetables. It’s like a bad, bootleg, kitchen-version of Moulin Rouge or any Woody Allen movie, only you can smell it. …I guess that makes Woody Allen the Zucchini, huh? Oh dear, I’m gonna try my best here.

Zucchini: I, I, I, I don’t know why…but…but you are the most beautiful, sexy, SEXY thing I’ve ever sat here with. Ever. In my whole entire life, I…I…I…can’t think of a better, more sexual, sexy piece of vegetable. Are you cut special? You…you…go to the gym. Everybody goes to the gym!

And then Kale comes on, played by some beautiful blonde 3 generations younger and 4 generations more attractive than Woochini Allen. And Kale’s all:

Kale: Hey, how’d you learn to talk like that? You could make a lady wilt with that kind of talk.

Zucchini: I, I…I.

Kale: Mind if I get cooked next to you?

Zucchini: Not at all, not at all. You…you…you want to go to the movies sometime?

This week's feeling is a delectible one...

Tune in this Monday from 9:30-10 pm by streaming it on wesufm.org or if you're in the Middletown area, you can hear it on WESU 88.1 FM to get all up in this goodness.

FEATURING THESE DELICIOUS RECIPESSSSSS!

Baked Parmesan Basil Fries

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
4 medium red potatoes

Directions
In bowl, combine parmesan cheese, oil, basil, and garlic powder. Cut potatoes into 1/4-inch sticks; add to cheese mixture and toss to coat.

Spread evenly on a large cookie sheet or jelly-roll pan coated with nonstick cooking spray, trying to keep all the fries in a single level. Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes, then flip. Bake 20 more minutes or until crisp and tender. Sprinkle with additional parmesan if desired.

Apple Cake

Ingredients

1/4 cups white sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts

4 cups chopped apples

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and baking soda. Add the eggs, oil and vanilla, mix well. Add the nuts and apple, mix until all of the apples are evenly coated. Pour into a 9x9 inch pan.

3. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Serve warm or cool.

Asian Chicken Salad

Ingredients

1 rotisserie chicken, pulled apart into bite-sized pieces
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into thirds
1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 1/2 tablespoons white sesame seeds, toasted
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 package mixed baby lettuce

Preparation

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. Add the asparagus to the water and cook until the asparagus are bright green and tender, about 4-5 minutes.
3. When asparagus is cooked, submerge into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking of the asparagus. Drain and set aside.
4. Make the dressing by whisking together the vegetable oil, vinegar, soy sauce, dark sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, peanut butter, and black pepper. At first, it may look separated, but keep whisking and the peanut butter will mix in completely.
5. In a large bowl, add the chicken, asparagus, red peppers, scallions, and dressing, and toss well.
6. Place the lettuce on a large serving platter, and pile the chicken mixture on top. Serve immediately.

French Toast according to Alton Brown

Ingredients

1 cup half-and-half
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons honey, warmed in microwave for 20 seconds
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 (1/2-inch) slices day-old or stale country loaf, brioche or challah bread
4 tablespoons butter

Directions

1. In medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, honey, and salt. You may do this the night before. When ready to cook, pour custard mixture into a pie pan and set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Dip bread into mixture, allow to soak for 30 seconds on each side, and then remove to a cooling rack that is sitting in a sheet pan, and allow to sit for 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a 10-inch nonstick saute pan. Place 2 slices of bread at a time into the pan and cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and place on rack in oven for 5 minutes. Repeat with all 8 slices. Serve immediately with maple syrup, whipped cream or fruit.

FEAR!

Feeling of the Week: FEAR
Recipes from October 27, 2008 show.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies for FEAR
Cobbled together by YumSugar
Note: These come out fluffy like muffin tops.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp clove
pinch of ground ginger
1/ 2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature
15 oz can of pure pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger and set aside.
3. Cream butter, brown sugar and white sugar in a large bowl.
4. Add pumpkin and vanilla to butter-sugar mixture and stir until incorporated.
5. Add egg and beat well until fully incorporated.
6. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.
7. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto greased baking sheets.
8. Bake for 13-15 minutes until edges start to brown. Remove from oven and let sit on hot baking sheet for 2 more minutes.
9. Move cookies to wire rack to cool.

Roasted Portebello Mushroom QuesaDEADlla for FEAR
Serves 4.

Ingredients
4 large portobello mushrooms
¼ cup (50 ml) olive oil
1 tbsp (15 ml) balsamic vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
½ cup yellow onion, chopped
4 large flour tortillas
2 cups (500 ml) grated Monterey Jack Cheese
1 cup (250 ml) chunky tomato salsa

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400F (200C)
2. Trim stems of mushrooms so that they are parallel to the cap. Place in a dish and toss with the balsamic vinegar and 3 Tbs. of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Place mushroom caps on baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until tender. Thickly slice and divide each mushroom into 4 portions.
4. In a small pan, sautee the onion in 1 Tbs olive oil. When onion becomes translucent, remove from heat and set aside.
5. Sprinkle ¼ cup cheese over half the tortilla. Lay 4 mushroom portions of top of cheese. Top with 1/4 cup (50 ml) tomato salsa, another 1/4 cup 50 ml) cheese and 1/4 of the sautéed onions. Fold tortilla over and press down.
6. Place remaining oil in skillet on medium heat. Place folded tortilla in skillet. Fry underside until browned, about 1 to 2 minutes. Flip over and fry second side until golden and cheese is melted, another 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat with other tortillas, adding more oil as needed.
( Healthier option: For step 6, bake the quesadilla in a pre-heated oven instead of frying.)

Baked Zombie Ziti for FEAR
Serves 8-10.

Ingredients
1 package (10 oz) white mushrooms
1 cup onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (32 ounce) jar tomato sauce
1 cup broth (vegetable, chicken, or beef)
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 (16 ounce) package ziti pasta, cooked and drained
2 (8 ounce) cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cook the onion in the oil in a large pan until tender and golden. Stir in the mushrooms and garlic and cook until mushrooms are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Then stir in tomato sauce, broth, and oregano.
3. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Bring at least 4 quarts of water to boil in a large pot. Add the ziti and salt to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until the pasta is al dente, tender yet firm to the bite. Drain the ziti and place in a bowl.
5. Add 1 cup of the sauce to the pasta and stir to coat. Spoon 1/2 of this mixture into a 13x9x2-inch baking dish.
6. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
7. Top with 2 cups sauce, then remaining ziti mixture and remaining sauce.
8. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.
9. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
10. Return to oven and bake uncovered for 10 minutes or until heated through.

eating nostalgia

Feeling of the Week: NOSTALGIA
Recipes from November 3, 2008 show

MEATLOAF
Ingredients
Serves 8 to 10.
· 4 slices white bread, torn into pieces
· 2 1/2 pounds ground beef
· 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into eighths
· 2 cloves garlic
· 2 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
· 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
· 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
· 1 large egg
· 1 cup ketchup
· 3 teaspoons dry mustard
· 1 tablespoon coarse salt
· 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
· 2 tablespoons brown sugar
Directions
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place bread in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade; pulse until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a medium bowl, and add ground beef.
2. Place onion, garlic, celery, carrots, and parsley in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade; pulse until fine. Add to meat mixture, using hands to mix well. Add egg, 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 teaspoons dry mustard, salt, and pepper; use hands to combine thoroughly. Place in an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pan.
3. Combine remaining 1/2 cup ketchup, remaining teaspoon dry mustard, and brown sugar in a bowl; stir until smooth.
4. Brush mixture over meatloaf; place in the oven with a baking pan set on the rack below to catch drippings. Cook until a meat thermometer inserted in the center reads 160 degrees, about 90 minutes. If top gets too dark, cover with foil, and continue baking.

CRANBERRY SAUCE
Ingredients
· 4 cups fresh cranberries
· 1 1/2 cups water
· 5 whole cloves
· 5 whole allspice berries
· 3 cinnamon sticks
· 2 cups white sugar
Directions
1. Place fresh cranberries and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2. Wrap cloves, allspice berries and cinnamon sticks in a spice bag. Place in the water with cranberries.
3. Cook until cranberries begin to burst, about 10 minutes.
4. Stir in sugar and reduce heat to low. Continue cooking 5 minutes, or until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Discard spice bag. Chill in the refrigerator 8 hours, or overnight, before serving.

MUSHROOM RAGOUT

Serves 4
Ingredients
2 lbs mixed fresh mushrooms (oyster, black trumpet, shitake, cremini, white button, your heart’s desire)
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 red onion, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
½ cup heavy cream
Small pinch of nutmeg
1 Tbs chopped fresh chives

Directions
Brush the mushrooms clean and cut them as needed so that they are roughly the same size. In a large pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for about 3 minutes, or until softened. Add the mushrooms to the pan and raise the heat . Saute until mushrooms are lightly browned in places, about 3-5 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper, then add the wine. Raise the heat to high and cook until the wine is almost evaporated. Then add the stock and reduce the heat to medium. Cook until mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the ½ cup of heavy cream and the nutmeg. Transfer to a warm serving dish, sprinkle with chives and serve immediately.