Feet Loaf Anybody? Plus Peeper’s Goodbye Lie Diaries

lean beef and onions prior to baking

  Just in time for Halloween, try your hand at feet loaf!  Upon seeing these, some have responded with ewwwww!  Others have called them adorable.  While I do not understand such high praise, I willing admit I was taken by the concept when first I heard talk of this unusual entree on the radio.  Naturally, I had to google the image.  See the pictures of my efforts. 

baked feet loaf

You'll need: 
Your favorite meatloaf recipe (I used two pounds of lean ground beef shaped into two giant ugly feet.)
Sliced onions and chips for ankle bones and toe nails
Ketchup for blood around the bones.  

I baked my feet at 350 degrees for a good hour in a large 9" x 13" glass cake pan covered with foil for easy clean up.  The last ten minutes, loosely cover the feet with foil so they don't get too brown. Dribble with extra ketchup when done. 

     The most important thing is to have the camera ready to catch the shocked faces of your loved ones when you serve them these disgusting-looking feet for Halloween din-din!  Have fun! 

The Goodbye Lie Diaries

Late 1880s
Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida

Grandmother Peeper writes:

 Dear Jane Marie,
     My, my, my!  This is something I will be  amakin' fer my kin.  The little ones will be fightin' over them toes.  Think I'll be invitin' Aunt Noreena over ta supper.  It will be hard fur me ta make my invite sound like a want her sittin' at our table, but the shock to her system will be so great, maybe she'll faint away.  That would be one Halloween worth rememberin'.  If only I kin keep from laughin' too soon in her face. 

Grandmother Peeper is a featured player in The Goodbye Lie series.  Her favorite target to tease and purposely irritate is the lady next door, Aunt Noreen. We all laugh along with Peeper.

Crustless Cheese and Beer Quiche

     I love most any version of quiche.  I'm always mixing different ingredients and, frankly, I have never had a fail.  Quiche can be rich, by nature, and calorie filled.  So, by prepping your baking pan with non-stick spray, you can omit the crust and pour the mixed ingredients directly into the dish.  Here is how I made my Cheese and Beer Quiche. Just like Miss Ella Dunnigan, the matriarch in my Goodbye Lie series, I don't always measure exactly ...

You'll need:
2  nine-inch store-bought frozen pie crusts (not deep dish), thawed - If you're going crustless, you not only save calories, but money having not to purchase the pie shells
6 eggs
1/4 cup no-fat milk
1/2 cup beer (I used non-alcoholic. Although I don't like the taste of beer to drink, I do like the beer flavor in quiche, muffies and cheese fondue.  Go figure. Next time, I will skip the milk and use only beer for the liquid.)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 
1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (I used 2% reduced fat.  No fat cheese doesn't melt well, but this 2% works fine.)
1/2 cup or more of Pecorino Romano, shredded (Add no salt because this wonderfully strong cheese is salty.)
8 ounce can of  mushroom stems and pieces, drained and rinsed to remove extra salt
Pepper to taste

     Poke the thawed pie crusts with a fork and bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for about 5 or 6 minutes to help crisp the crust. Let cool. (The fork holes will prevent the baked crust from puffing up. If it does puff, just press it back down.)

     Whisk the eggs by hand till mixed well.  Add the other ingredients and fill the 2 pie shells evenly. Bake about 45 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean and the crust is golden brown.  To prevent the crust from browning too much, loosely cover each pie with a square of foil with the center cut away.  The crust is protected, but the middle of the pie will still bake evenly.

Enjoy,

Jane Marie  

Oh What a Pal was Mary - A 1919 Hit!

Listen to:
 Oh What a Pal 
was Mary 
here!

     I love YouTube!  For giggles one rainy day, I thought I would try and discover what the melodies of some of the antique sheet music we have around the house sound like.  This particular piece, Oh What a Pal was Mary, with the beautiful picture of a 1919 bride is in a green wooden frame in our front bath.  I always think romantic thoughts when I look at this Mary, a demure bride holding her flowers in front of a stained glass church window.
     Sing along with the lyrics below and take a step back into the last century. 
   

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥OH ! WHAT A PAL WAS MARY 𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥

(Edgar Leslie, Bert Kalmar / Pete Wendling, 1919)

Mary o' mine, Mary o' mine, Grew like a rose in a bower, Bloomed for a day, Faded away, I lost a beautiful flower; Sweetheart and friend, right to the end; That's why I miss her so. Mary o' mine, Mary o' mine, My little playmate of childhood, Symbol of love, Sent from above, Staunch as an oak in the wildwood; Mem'ries of old, purer than gold; Fill me with love sublime. Oh! what a gal was Mary, Oh! what a pal was she, An angel was born on Easter morn, and God sent her down to me. Heart of my heart was Mary, Soul of my soul divine, Though she is gone, love lingers on,
For Mary, old pal of mine.

(Thank you to Lyrics Playground - https://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/o/ohwhatapalwasmary.html)

Thank you, also, to CatsPjamas1 on YouTube for the pretty audio of Oh What a Pal Was Mary.  Check out her channel for tons more music from the 1900s.