It’s fucking hotter than satan’s anus outside this weekend. 

But thanks to double-paned windows and our two ductless air conditioning units, we’re doing okay. 

Saturday night I even cooked! 

I made upside down meatball casserole. 

Confession – I did NOT make the meatballs from scratch as the recipe suggests.  Fuck that.  Who am I?  Martha Stewart?  Nope.  I’m the fat old lady – and I can buy perfectly good meatballs at the grocery store. 

And I did.  And that made making this recipe all the easier. 

I will warn, some of the biscuit did not cook all the way through – not totally doughy but some were a smidge doughy – so if I make it again, I’ll add maybe 5 or 10 more minutes to the cooking time.

UPSIDE DOWN MEATBALL CASSEROLE

MEATBALLS 1 # ground beef ½ C finely chopped onion 1 t finely chopped garlic 1/3 C Italian style bread crumbs 1/3 C grated Parmesan cheese ¼ C milk 1 egg ¼ t salt ¼ t pepper (or 28 – 1-inch frozen meatballs, thawed FILLING 1 C whole milk ricotta cheese 1/3 C grated Parmesan cheese ¼ t Italian seasoning ¼ t pepper 1/8 t salt 25.5 oz roasted garlic pasta sauce   BISCUIT TOPPING 16.3 oz Buttermilk biscuit dough, separated and cut into 6ths 2 T grated Parmesan cheese 2 T Italian bread crumbs

Preheat 350 º; Pam 13×9 cookie sheet             Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix ricotta cheese, 1/3 C Parmesan cheese, the Italian seasoning, ¼ t pepper and 1/8 t salt; mix well.             Spread cooked meatballs in bottom of baking dish.  Drop spoonfuls of ricotta mixture between meatballs.  In microwave safe bowl, microwave pasta sauce on High 2-3 minutes, stirring halfway, until heated through and steaming.  Pour heated sauce on top of meatball and ricotta layer.             In large resealable food storage plastic bag, add biscuit pieces; toss with 2 T Parmesan cheese and 2 T bread crumbs, shaking bag to coat.  Spread biscuit pieces on top of hot pasta sauce layer; sprinkle any remaining bread crumb mixture on top.  Bake 33-38 minutes (OR MAYBE 10 MINUTES LONGER – MINE CAME OUT A LITTLE UNDERCOOKED) or until biscuits are deep golden brown and baked through.  Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Sunday night, I made dinner, but I did not cook.

I made chicken blt wraps with aioli.  Very easy and very tasty. 

Another confession – I did not try making my own aioli.  Again, I repeat, fuck that, I am not Martha Stewart and this fat old lady found some perfectly delicious garlic aioli at the supermarket, along with the (real) bacon crumbles.  My cooking motto – easier is easier.

Yet another confession – the photo used in this post was posed by professional food because by the time I made them I was hot and tired and my back was screaming (I have a teleconference appointment with my doctor for that on Wednesday and hope to get a referral to either a chiropractor or my orthopedist – preferably the latter); and the phone was in the bedroom so I didn’t take a picture.  We’ll all live.  Mine were not as beautiful as these professional wrapped wraps, but they tasted really good.

CHICKEN BLT WRAPS WITH AIOLI

AIOLI 1/3 C mayonnaise 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped 1 T lemon juice WRAPS 4 (10 inch) flour tortillas 8 leaves green leaf lettuce 9 oz package thinly sliced oven-roasted chicken 2 medium tomatoes chopped ¼ C crumbled bacon

In small bowl, beat aioli ingredients with wire whisk.  Spread on each tortilla, leaving 2-inch border at bottom of each.             Arrange 2 lettuce leaves on each tortilla, leaving 2 inch border at bottom.  Evenly top each with chicken, tomatoes and bacon.             Fold bottom edge of each tortilla up, and roll tightly.

I also made lemon bars.  Yum.  The filling for this recipe is a little creamier than my “lovely lemon bars” recipe, but they are still delicious and makes an 8×8 pan of yummy – rather than 13×9 – which means we end up eating lemon bars until we are thoroughly tired of them.  These will be long gone before we are ready to say goodbye. 

Also – I don’t dust with confectioners’ sugar.  They are sweet enough without that.

CLASSIC LEMON BARS

BASE: ½ C butter or margarine, softened ¼ C sugar 1 C flour FILLING: 2 eggs ¾ C sugar 3 T lemon juice 2 T flour ¼ t baking powder confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 375 º             In a small mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar; gradually add the flour.  Press into an ungreased 8” square baking dish.  Bake for 12 min.  Cool slightly.             Meanwhile, in another mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, lemon juice, flour and baking powder until frothy.  Pour over warm crust.  Bake for 15-20 min. or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.  Dust with confectioner’s sugar.  Cut into bars.