My husband told me this is the day wives get upset with their husbands. I said I could make it a day of resentment, unfulfilled expectations, and misery for him if that's what he wanted. (Note: We had a good laugh rather than filling our day with those abominable feelings.)
But this was the first Valentine's Day I approached with pretty much no expectations, and as a result, I had such a wonderful day being with my family and feeling a basic, uncomplicated sense of happiness with my life and the people in it.
I'm discovering that holidays and birthdays are so much better when you approach them without high expectations. This year we didn't do gifts or dinner out; now that we have children we're trending towards the simplicity that this life requires. But since I wasn't expecting anything, I was certainly excited to receive some roses and Trader Joe's chocolate and peanut butter cups. I'll take it!
For dinner we had our second-annual heart-shaped meatloaf, inspired by a sister in my ward who does it every year. Meatloaf seriously gets a bad rap; I think it is one of the most brilliant and delicious foods when made well. A lamb meatloaf would blow my mind.
But for basic meatloaf, I think the trick is adding lots of breadcrumbs (more than any recipe asks for and instead of chunks of bread) and at least a cup of a shredded hard cheese. Lots of spices, just enough salt, eggs, milk, and ketchup (which I forgot for the photo). I don't use measurements or a specific recipe anymore with meatloaf, but the above combination of approximations seems to work every time.
And nothing says love like heart-shaped meat.
No comments:
Post a Comment