Jeff's Grandma's Amazing Irish Meatloaf

The other day my friend posted a status update on Facebook that he was making his grandma's meatloaf. I love meatloaf, so I asked for the recipe and he kindly gave it to me.

I made it the other night for Rick's family. Since they're Irish, I thought they may like it. What makes a meatloaf Irish? I'm guessing because there are not tomatoes at all. Whatever, my sister-in-law declared it "the best meatloaf I've ever had." I have to admit, it was darn good eating.


Jeff's Grandma's Irish Meatloaf (with Venison instead of beef)

First...here are the instructions as Jeff gave them to me. As you can see, I had to do a little research to find out the right proportions, which I figured out by looking up recipes on Cook's.com

From Jeff: The secret is...........fresh ground ham steak, 2 eggs and bread crumbs..Oh and a red pepper all run through the Kitchen aid grinder. 1 large onion as well. Add 1 1/2 lbs of freshly ground beef or venison, elk. I buy Organic beef a whole cow really every year thats what I use. But it's real lean so Venison should be good! bake for 1.5 hrs in a dutch oven with-out the lid. Pour off the fat if any and cover for an hour. remove to set and make flour gravy in the browned drippings.
Mmmm good!

My interpretation:
1 1/2 lbs ground venison
1/2 lb fresh ground pork
2 eggs
3 cups fine bread crumbs
1 red pepper
1 large onion

Run eggs, bread crumbs, red pepper, and onion through a food processor. Mix in ground meat (use a kitchen aid if you have it, if not, your hands will work just fine.

Bake for 1.5 hours at 350 in a dutch oven with-out the lid (I actually used a bread pan because I don't have a dutch oven).
Pour off the fat if any and cover for an hour (there was no fat to pour off when I used the venison).

Look at the Size of that Rack

I'm a lucky woman. When my husband says "look at the size of that rack," I know he's only got eyes for the antlers on the buck he's admiring.

We've been in Colorado for a week, spending time with my family and remembering my father. Every afternoon, Rick and I went on little adventures. Two days, those adventures led us to tracks of land for sale*. On each occasion, we got to meet some of the local mule deer, who apparently are not too skitish around people.
When we couldn't get Bucky to even look at us while we honked the horn at him, Rick got out of the car to go have a little heart-to-heart. The buck finally looked up when Rick got within 15 feet, but only to snort and go back to feeding.

Where's the bow when you need it?

I've also learned on this trip that most of my relatives hunt. I had no idea. I've known these people all my life, but it never came up in conversation. Rick was thrilled. In fact, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get him on the plane tomorrow...I think he wants to stay out here. So, despite the very sad circumstances, this has actually been a pretty interesting and fun week!

Thinking of My Dad

I'm sitting in front of a fire with a Shih Tsu at my feet, drinking coffee and thinking about my father.

My father died Friday morning after a six-year fight with AML (the really bad type of leukemia that you can't cure). Dad gave the disease a good fight, living much longer than most people who get it. Most of the time, even when he was in the middle of one of his many treatments, he didn't look like a man with a life-threatening illness. In fact, he played golf two days before the infection that finally killed him sent him to the hospital.

I'm going to miss him terribly, although right now I've got great comfort in being in his home with his dogs and his things all around me (although the sight of his golf clubs in the trunk of his car where he'd left them, with his JayHawk driver cover that he loved so much, kind of undid me).

Today I have to write an obituary for the funeral home. There is so much to say about this wonderful man, I don't really know how to begin. He was smart, and kind, and very funny. He was deaf as a doornail, which often made conversing with him hard. He had a way of summarizing a point with extreme clarity. He was a gifted public speaker. He had a sense of adventure, always willing to try new experiences. He was making jokes up until the day he died.

One of the the things I loved most was how he completely accepted and loved his family. Truly the only thing he wanted for us was happiness. He didn't care what we choose to do with our lives as long as that choice made us happy. That kind of acceptance is hard to find. When I met my husband two years ago, Dad didn't care what Rick did for a living, where he was from, whether he went to college...he only cared that Rick adored me and made me happy. Everything else was gravy. I wish Rick had had time to know my father better.

The sadness is going to come and go, but he lives on in all of us. I see him in my nephew Jake and in my brothers. But nothing is like the real thing, and Dad is going to be missed.

Dad was a big supporter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you know someone with this disease, make a donation today.

Treats for a Happy Dawg

Have you ever known a dog that wouldn't eat anything you put near it's mouth? It's a rare dog indeed who is a food snob.

Our beloved Happy Dawg is just such a rare creature. She won't eat anything raw...it must all be cooked just so (even her yummy venison bones). Drop some ground meat on the floor, and it will sit there all night. This animal is the pickiest eater ever in canine history.

Rick really wanted to find some treats for her so he could reward her when she does things like behave during a bath or track a deer. But we tried everything, and it was no go. So, yesterday, he decided to make some liver jerky and see if that might make her salivate.

Bingo! This dog is performing every trick in the book to earn a treat. She LOVES them. Sid, the little gray cat, was not interested at all. (If it doesn't have cheese on it, she could care less.)

Happy Dawg Jerky Treats

• 1-quart water
• 1 tbs plain salt
• 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Venison liver sliced 1/8” thick (we usually do two livers at a time)

Set aside the venison liver. Combine all other ingredients, stirring so that they dissovle. Add the liver and soak for five minutes. Remove liver, place on paper towels, and pat dry. Place the liver on dehydrator trays, or if you’re using a conventional oven, on cookie sheets lined with wax paper. Dehydrate on lowest setting for 6 to 8 hours. (in the oven, put on lowest temperate and leave the oven door open a crack…you may have to play with the timing and temperature to figure out what works best.

Requesting All Comfort Food

This has been a very hard week, and I'm in serious need of comfort food. This is my plea for recipes...they don't even have to be venison!

I'm in Colorado right now, and have been since Sunday. I fly home today. I feel mixed emotions about that. I'm in Colorado because my father is very ill, possibly in the last few months of life. I want to be with him, holding his hand while he sleeps (the smile he gets when he wakes up and sees his family there is worth everything). As much as I want to be here, I miss my husband terribly. I want to be by his side, supporting him while his business weathers this economic storm. It's very hard. I imagine over the next few months I'll be traveling between home and Colorado.

When I'm home, I want to make meatloaf, shepard's pie, burgers...what else? What other meat-based comfort foods are there? Is there, by any miracle, a venison chocolate cake recipe out there? Let me know!!!!

Yummy-in-the-Tummy Venison Pot Pie

I promised my niece that I would find a gravy-based venison pot pie recipe (she didn't like the one I made that had a broth base). In my searches, I came across several fun blogs where people share their home cooking recipes. Culinarily Obsessed is where I found the Easy Peasy Pot Pie recipe. Using that as my basis, I altered it a bit...in the process making not-quite-as-easy-peasy as the original, but very yummy-in-the-tummy.

Yummy-in-the-Tummy Venison Pot Pie

Makes 4 individual pot pies or 1 two-crust, 9-in. pie

1 package pie crusts (2 crusts) (or make it from scratch if you’re so inclined)
½ cup frozen peas
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small potato, cubed
1 can cream of potato soup
1/2 cup milk
1 lb venison, cubed
1 small onion, chopped

Brown venison with onion, set aside. Preheat oven to 425.
In a medium bowl, mix together vegetables, soup, milk, and venison. Stir until combined.

Place the pie crust into the individual pot pie tins or 9-in. pie pan and pour mixture into crust. Place second crust on top of each and pinch edges together. Cut four slits in center of crust. Bake for about 30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.