No work meat loaf recipe is excellent

The wind is gusting and snow is falling. It is a perfect day for meat loaf. I know a lot of folks don't care for dishes with the word "loaf" in the title, but this is quite possibly one of the best tasting meat loaf dishes I have had. So, without further ado, lets get to the recipe.

What you will need:

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
• 2 C. packaged her seasoned stuffing (think stove top stuffing)
• Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine meat, egg, 1/2 C. tomato sauce, stuffing and seasonings. Shape in loaf in a shallow baking dish. Bake 1 hour.

Remove from oven and pour the remaining sauce over the loaf. Bake additional 10 minutes.

When my wife cooked this last week we didn't have tomato sauce so she substituted some three cheese spaghetti sauce. I have to say it made this rather tasty.

Tasty recipes that will help keep the cold at bay

I thought I would revisit some of the recipes I posted last fall. Most people that visit All Things Michigan merely look at the most recent posts (within the last month or two). With that being the case, a lot of great recipes might be ignored this fall.

• Pumpkin Pie Pudding - If you like pumpkin pie, you will love this. This is just too easy. Throw everything in your slow cooker and let it cook.
• Quick Hearty Soup - Who says you don't have time to cook a tasty meal?
• Savory Skillet Pork Chops - Too cold to grill? This pork chop recipe will do just fine.
• Farmer Jake’s Breakfast Skillet - A great way to start your day.
• Easy Slow-Cooker Bread Pudding - This is very easy to make, which is good since it won't last long. Whenever I make it, it gets gobbled up right away. I like it warm or cold - very tasty. For a different spin try other dried fruits like blueberries or cherries.

Enjoy these great recipes!

Roasted Strawberry Shortcakes

This is it. The pinnacle of all the delicious treats that you can make with fresh Michigan strawberries. Strawberry Shortcake. Just thinking about it makes me hungry for dozens of fresh berries poured over a hot piece of shortcake and topped with whipped cream (homemade if possible). Oh, yes. This is one of the finest treats of summer. The recipe below was found at the Detroit Free Press website. It looks delicious. Oh man, lets go get some fresh strawberries and cook this up! :)

Serves: 6 / Preparation time: 15 minutes / Total time: 45 minutes The biscuits in this recipe are made with whipped cream and have a delicate texture that pairs well with the warm berries.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, plus additional for sprinkling

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided, plus additional milk or cream for brushing

2 teaspoons vanilla extract, or pure vanilla paste

2 pints small ripe strawberries, cleaned and hulled

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Butter a large baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a large, deep bowl, beat 1 cup of the cream on medium-high speed just until it holds soft peaks when the beaters are lifted. Beat in the vanilla.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, add the whipped cream and stir the mixture with a fork just until it begins to form a dough.

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough several times, just until it is well combined. Pat it out to 1/2-inch thick.

With a 3-inch cutter, crinkle-edged if you have one, cut out 6 rounds; gather the scraps and pat them out again if necessary. Brush the biscuits with the whipping cream and sprinkle them with sugar. Place them on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Let the biscuits cool on the pan on a wire rack.

Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl toss the strawberries with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Transfer them to a sided baking sheet. When the biscuits are out of the oven, roast the strawberries, stirring twice, for about 12 minutes, until they are soft and fragrant.

Just before serving, in a large bowl beat together the remaining 1/2 cup cream, sour cream and confectioners' sugar on medium speed until soft peaks form.

Split each biscuit in half and place the bottom halves on 6 serving plates. Spoon a generous portion of warm berries over each one, add a dollop of cream, add the biscuit tops and drizzle with the juices on the baking sheet. Serve immediately.

From "Luscious Berry Desserts" by Lori Longbotham (Chronicle Books, $12.97 at Amazon.com). Tested by Susan Selasky for the Free Press Test Kitchen.

Easy Strawberry Freezer Jam

My wife makes the best strawberry freezer jam. I hoard it throughout the year and am just now nearing the end of the last container of last year's jam. I love it so much that I wanted to share her awesome recipe with you. When I asked her for the recipe this morning she chuckled. She brought me the package of freezer jam pectin and told me that she just uses the recipe on the back. All this time I thought she was using some old family recipe! ;)

Of course, anyone making freezer jam is most likely using the same or at least a similar recipe. I do think that the quality of the strawberries is the key, though. Everyone might use the same recipe, but you have to use quality berries.

So, without further ado, here is the strawberry freezer jam recipe from the back of the Ball Freezer Jam Pectin package.

1. Measure 2/3-cup sugar into bowl. Add package Fruit Jell Freezer Jam Pectin; stir until mixed.
2. Crush strawberries. Combine 1 2/3 cups crushed strawberries with pectin mixture. Stir 3 minutes.
3. Ladle jam into clean jars (Ball makes great plastic jars with screw-on lids) leaving 1/2-inch headspace; apply lids. Let stand until thickened (about 30 minutes).
4. Serve, Refrigerate up to 3 weeks or Freeze it for longer storage.

Yields 2-8oz. jars

P.S. If you are at all like me you won't have to worry about storing the jam in your fridge for more than 3 weeks. It just won't last that long :).

This Week is Egg Salad Week

What do you do with all of those hard boiled eggs your kids and grandkids decorated now that Easter is over? Why, you celebrate Egg Salad Week and eat tons of yummy yellow egg salad. You could also have deviled eggs or creamed eggs (that sounds pretty gross to me) if you prefer. Here is a quick recipe for some easy egg salad -

• 2 Whole hard boiled eggs, chopped
• 6 hard boiled egg whites, chopped
• 4 Tbsp. mayo
• 2 Tbsp. mustard
• 1 tsp. mustard
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1/2 C. chopped onion
• 1/8 tsp. seasoned pepper

Mix all of the ingredients together and enjoy! For more ideas on what to do with your leftover eggs check out the American Egg Board's website that is filled with all kinds of egg-related stuff and goodies.

Cincinnati Chili

Here is a great chili recipe for those who like a sweeter and milder flavored chili. Chili is a great dish to have on any cold and blustery day. Enjoy! What you need:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• Chili seasoning to taste
• 1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 ½ tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• Splash of Cider Vinegar
• 1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
• 1 (15 oz.) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
• Add tomato juice to taste
• 1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans drained & rinsed
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• ½ cup chopped onions

Directions:

1. Cook ground beef & drain
2. In a large saucepan add cooked ground beef to remaining ingredients (excluding cheese and onions) and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Serve chili topped with cheese and onions. For genuine Cincinnati Chili serve it over cooked spaghetti noodles.