Meat Loaf

Could this be it? The recipe, I mean. I have always wanted to learn to cook meat loaf but I can't find an enough to do recipe. This one looks easy enough to prepare but the downfall or my downfall is, there are so many ingredients. Sometimes, I am wondering why life can't be like maxon rtd800 at musicians friend - hummming.. :)

PAUL'S MEATLOAF & MUSHROOM SAUCE Serves 6-8 Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes Skills needed: Basic 1 tbsp olive oil 1 medium Spanish onion, finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 eggs, beaten 1 bunch thyme leaves, chopped 3 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce 240ml cup milk 1kg ground meat (equal parts beef, pork, and veal preferred) 65g breadcrumbs 2 bunches sage, minced 1 tbsp coarse salt 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper 170g streaky bacon or pancetta, thinly sliced MUSHROOM SAUCE 3 tbsp butter 2 cloves garlic, minced 6 shallots, finely chopped 6 portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced 250ml beef or chicken gravy 28g dried porcini mushrooms 50ml red wine vinegar 100g sugar 1 x 330ml bottle of stout, Amber ale or sherry Preheat the oven to 180C. Pour the oil into a saute pan and set over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. In a mixing bowl, stir together eggs, thyme, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce and milk. Place the mince into another bowl and pour egg mixture over the meat. Add breadcrumbs, sage, onion and garlic to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Knead the meat together with the other ingredients until well blended. Transfer to a baking tray and form into a loaf. Wrap the bacon slices lengthwise over the top and tuck them under the loaf, to completely cover the meat. Bake for 1 hour or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the centre of the loaf reads 160C. Remove from the oven and set aside to rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve with mushroom sauce and mashed vegetables such as celeriac or swede To prepare the mushroom sauce: Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a saute pan, add the garlic, shallots and portobellos, and saute until soft. Bring the gravy to a boil in another saucepan, and reduce by a quarter. Remove from heat and add ground porcini. Add vinegar and sugar to the mushrooms, reduce to syrup. Add the beer, reduce. Add the gravy, place saucepan over low heat, and stir until gravy thickens. Stir in remaining butter just before serving. Read more: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/meatloaf-the-house-special/story-fneuz8wn-1226435897295#ixzz28ZLK7wdl

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Updates on Houses

Planning to sell you house or simple just to update things to make them look exciting and with life? Here are some tips from news.com.au. Certainly, the previous owner of our house did most of these and it was a quick sell for them. We instantly fall in love with the place. I'd say people into best promotional polo shirts can learn some tips from them.

2. Refresh with paint Painting the interior can lift the mood of your house and it’s inexpensive if you’re willing to do the work. If your budget allows, tackle walls yourself and get professionals in to do the ceilings, as these can be hard going on the neck. You might be able to get away with giving skirting boards, doors and window and door frames a good clean with sugar soap or a natural alternative such as washing soda. If you’re taking the DIY approach, tackle one room at a time. Choose a warm, dry day to start, move all of your furniture into the middle of the room and do the first coat in the morning. As most paint needs only a few hours between coats, you can do the second later in the day and have the room finished by the evening. Bigger rooms will take more time of course, but the one-room-at-a-time method limits disruption. 3. Update flooring Getting carpets cleaned can make a huge amount of difference to the look (and smell) of a home, so calling in the professionals is well worth considering. However, no amount of cleaning is going to lift a floor covering beyond its use-by date, so it may be time to replace what you’ve got. If floorboards are showing a little too much wear and tear, have them re-sanded, which opens up myriad options as you could have them lime washed, stained, painted or simply resealed. If you decide to rip up old carpet and find old dirty floorboards underneath, mix up a solution of boiled linseed oil, turpentine and white vinegar in equal parts and test a patch with a lint-free cloth to clean and feed the timber. If the wood looks good, you may have unearthed a gem. 9. Fit new taps If the bathroom and kitchen are basically in good shape but just in need of a little updating, look at the taps. By fitting new, good-looking, matching taps, or taps that link aesthetically, you’re bringing a sense of cohesion to the house. Good taps also suggest good plumbing. 10. Groom the garden Winter is the perfect time to pull on the garden gloves and get stuck into the back yard. After a general tidy up, look at any gaps in planting that need to be dealt with. If you’re putting the house up for sale, gather reasonably established potted plants to fill up these holes as you can take them with you when you go. Get hold of a high-pressure hose and give paths and paintwork the once-over. Clean the barbecue and give outdoor furniture a scrub and, if needed, an oil, as spring is just around the corner. Read more: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/home-garden/ten-ways-to-add-value-to-your-home/story-fneuz5ql-1226440435567#ixzz28ZHhk9ca

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It's All About What's In Down Under | Permanence in Change | I Am A Shoeaholic | A Juggling Act | Healthy Living | The Life of a Tatapilla | What's reel and real?

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Savoury

This news should make critic happy. I reckon, with the bombardment of the media of all the not so happy news on people's health and weight.. one has taken notice. Some things are not as hard as rocket science and as expensive as diamond blades. Somethings are just a walk in the park if coupled with determination.

AUSTRALIANS are becoming increasingly sweet on savoury foods, with new data showing we're consuming over 25 per cent less sugar than 60 years ago. A report shows sugar consumption in 2011 was 42kg per person, down from 57kg per person in 1951 when Australia's sweet tooth was at its sweetest. The report - Sugar Consumption in Australia: A Statistical Update - also found there has been a sharp nine per cent decline since 2004 when every Australian, on average, was absorbing 46kg of sugar. The report, compiled by Green Pool, has taken all aspects of sugar consumption into account. "Our calculations... include household use, processed foods and beverages, takeaways, convenience foods and restaurant meals," Green Pool spokesman Tom McNeill said. "Imports and exports of sugar and sugar-containing manufactured foods and beverages were also assessed." The report is the first independent assessment of sugar consumption trends since the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) stopped examining the field in 1999. Read more: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health-fitness/australians-are-losing-their-sweet-tooth/story-fneuzkvr-1226488927664#ixzz28ZFlimEz

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It's All About What's In Down Under | Permanence in Change | I Am A Shoeaholic | A Juggling Act | Healthy Living | The Life of a Tatapilla | What's reel and real?

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