Giant Appetites

Recently someone told me I get too emotional about things. I admit this is true, but said that doesn't mean I'm wrong! There is no getting around my Irish-Italian heritage. I love purples and reds, dramatic stories, lots of excitement. I always say Italian folks cannot do passive-aggressive, because we tend to put it all out on the table, and not just the food.

This also means I love food - lots of it. Clearly, I wouldn't collect hundreds of vintage cookbooks if I did not like to read about food. After a week of making Weight Watchers recipes, though they were very very good, this recipe also from the Good and Easy cookbook caught my eye.

Giant Burger

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 1/2 teaspoons salt (oh boy)

1 package (3 oz.) cream cheese, softened (after reading that ingredient I realized I would literally not be able to stomach trying this one out)

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

1 tablespoon horseradish, drained (ick)

1 can (3.5 oz.) French fried onion rings, if desired.

There is a variation too which suggests adding 2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese to cream cheese mixture. Where else in the world would you find these ingredients together? My guess is not on Iron Chef.

Heat oven to 350. Mix ground beef and salt; divide in half. Pat one half evenly in 8-inch pie pan. Mix cream cheese, mustard and horseradish; spread to within 1 inch of edge of meat in pan.

Shape remaining meat into 8-inch circle. Place on cheese mixture; pinch edge to seal securely. Bake uncovered 45 minutes for medium, 55 minutes for well.

Heat onion rings in oven 5 minutes. Remove meat to large serving plate; arrange onion rings around meat. Cut into wedges.

Complete menu plan: Mushroom Italian Green Beans, Cucumber Relish Mold (that sounds awful), potatoes and Caramel Peach Crisps.

Wow. I think that's like a week of Weight Watcher points, even if you could get through the entire meal.

Why would anyone put beef and cream cheese together?

I zipped through Jayne Anne Krentz' Sizzle and Burn this week. I always like her, and she used to be a librarian. The reason I zipped through it as I read with a book in one hand while walking behind the baby, going "No, no, Owen, don't put your fingers in the vent. No, No, Owen, don't eat off the floor." With the -30 degree days around here and the days off school we are all having a lot of cabin fever.

I hope it gets up to a balmy +30 this week. Or else that someone sends a private jet here and takes my family to Disney World.