IoM 2009 Wrap-up

We finally did it! We celebrated our belated Ides of Meatloaf 2009 last Saturday. ET definitely wins the prize for Most Authentic Menu; ours was a pale imitation at best. In my defense, it's hard to pull out all the stops when feeding only the three of us. One can only eat so many French Fried Onions, you know.

This year I employed a new traditional element: canned crescent rolls. They performed beautifully, burning on the bottom just as I remember from childhood. As I set them on the table I realized that Young Son had never had canned biscuits! They all disappeared, burned bottoms and all. We lost major points as our other side dishes (stir fried asparagus, roasted baby carrots) were completely inauthentic, although they were tasty.

For dessert, I stole J's (ET's daughter) idea from their 2008 celebration: a Twinkie Jello mold. I decorated with a can of Redi Whip and, may I say, it was awesome. I think it's going to become a staple. The one pic I took came out badly and by the time I got it adjusted it looked just like a bad photo from a 70s women's magazine. Score!

I swear, I'm embarrassed to post my meatcake pic. Just so you know, this is what happens when one starts dinner too late and is too lazy to get out the decorating tools. The worst part was it didn't even taste good! I tried a new recipe -- big mistake. ET's cake looked amazing, as usual. Gee, guess which of us used to get paid as a cake decorator? Hint: It wasn't the one who made the beautiful meatcake.

Mark your calendars for 15 March 2010, OK? I'd love to have y'all play along. It's a wonderful excuse to eat badly, and we all need more of those.

Besides, Twinkie Jello! C'mon, how could that be wrong?