Broccoli Loaf

I was in the mood for a broccoli loaf tonight. So I made one.

It's easy, and it's really good.

Start with your favorite hamburger loaf recipe (Okay, maybe I'm being pedantic, but it's only meatloaf if it's made with ground beef, ground pork and ground lamb.)

Here's what I use:

1 egg
1¹/₂ lb. hamburger
¹/₂ med. onion, chopped
³/₄ cup cornflake crumbs (the recipe actually calls for breadcrumbs, but I think cornflake crumbs give it a better texture)
¹/₂ cup catsup
1 tsp salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

beat egg with fork, mix in remaining ingerdients until well combined (use your hands, but wash them first)

lay out a piece of aluminum foil, about 18 inches long.

Put hamburger mixture on foil and pat into a rectangle, about 8" by 15"

Put eight half-slices of Velveeta^TM on hamburger ( leave at least an inch margin all the way around)

add a layer of chopped broccoli (if you use frozen broccoli, thaw it to room temperature first, if you use it still frozen, the center of the loaf will still be raw after baking)

roll the loaf by lifting the aluminum foil and rolling the hamburger as you go.

Seal the ends and edge of roll. Place seam-side-down in a loaf pan. pat loaf smooth.

Bake for 1 hour. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.


Later,

XKCD

Check out the link in the title.

This made me laugh so hard I started to choke.

If you don't get the punchline (or do get it, but don't think it's funny), you probably aren't a geek or nerd.

Later,

Reflections

Tom introduced me to this really cool game last weekend.

I have made it to level 23 of 25, and there I am stuck.

I have several solutions that require one more mirror or one more refractor.

In this one, for example, I have a refractor at the end, but I need a mirror instead.















It's pretty frustrating. But the game is cool. Check it out. (the title is the link)

Later,

Christmas aftermath

Well, I'm back in Green River. The drive back from Greybull was much better that the drive up.

It was good to spend time with my parents and my brothers.

However, I'd like to say something about gift-giving.

Buying gifts for children like Maggie and Jonas is easy. Buying gifts for adults can be very hard. That is why places like Amazon.com let people make wishlists.

I refuse to take the blame for a lame gift. I put a lot of effort into finding something I think will be appreciated, but without a wishlist I am probably working with insufficient data and really only guessing.

Anyway,
(Salutation of your choice) (Occasion of your choice).

Later,

Christmas survey

I usually don't bother with these, but hey, it's Christmas.


1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Mulled Cider or Wassail

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Santa? Uh, sorry Virginia, I hate to break it to you, but...

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
I go elsewhere for Christmas and don't decorate.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
See above

5. When do you put your decorations up?
I don't. See above

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
Blueberry bread pudding.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
Get togethers at Gary and Sue's.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
What Marie said. ("I don't think I ever really believed in Santa. I do remember getting gifts from him, but my Mom never "promoted" Santa because he was not the real reason for the season.")

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Nope.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
See decorating comment above.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
A bit of both. Hey, you try driving over South Pass in the snow. If it's even open.

12. Can you ice skate?
Used to be able to a little. It's been a while

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Dad gave me this really cool electronics experiment lab one year. Of course, I lost most of the pieces within a few months.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Meh. I could do this stuff without a trumped up reason.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
See favorite holiday dish.

16. What is your favorite Holiday Tradition?
Don't really have one.

17. What tops your tree?
Enough with the decorating questions already!

18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving Christmas gifts?
Giving, but really only to Maggie and Jonas.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
I have two. "Christmas at Ground Zero" and "The Night Santa Went Crazy"

20. Candy Canes?
Oh yeah.

21. Favorite Christmas Movie?
"The Most Horrible Chrismas Ever" (Invader Zim Christmas episode)


Later,

Hobby fun.

The Master of Magic saved game editor is nearly done.

My new favorite tactic:

Walk nine spearmen units up to a city. Save the game when they are able to move. Run editor. Change spearmen to Great Wyrms. Attack the city. Save the game. Run the editor. Change the Great Wyrms back to spearmen. Continue play.

I need a way to cut the Styrofoam for the shrouds (also called ducts). I have a rotary saw attachment for my Dremel, and it will work, but it makes an awful, awful mess of Syrofoam dust (I know. I tested it). I could buy a hot-wire foam cutter, but I couldn't find any that were quite the way I want. So I'm making one.

There a lot of websites that tell how to do this, but come on. It's a wire carrying an electric current on a support frame. It isn't brain surgery.

Later,

What insane historical figure are you?

Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.

I'll take credit for Neuschwanstein and Herrenchiemsee. Those places are pure genius.
He wasn't a bad guy for a lunatic, either. Okay, when he was fourteen he tried to behead his younger brother, but hey, you should have seen the things I did to Phil and Tom when I was fourteen.

Later,

UPDTATE: Tom scored as Nikola Tesla, dammit.