UnRecipe: It's My Pity Party and I'll Eat Comfort Food if I Want To

Long day. Too much to do. Frustrating situations with no end in sight. Somebody call Wasabi a Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahm-bulance, it's time for a Pity Party! So how about a little cheese with your whine, or better yet, big heaping plates of simple favorites to just take your mind off the fact that all these little things  just don't matter. Or at least I keep telling myself that!

This meatloaf doesn't sing, but it tastes real good after a long freakin' day - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Even though I do most of the cooking in our household, I'll rely on dishes where the oven does most of the work for the everyday meals. I know I've featured meatloaf many times on this blog, but per the title of this post, it's my pity party and I'll make whatever the hell gets me closer to that glass of wine or cocktail at the end of a particularly taxing day. Boozeahol in hand? Goooooooooooooooooooal! What makes meatloaf so magical? Aside from the periodic singing of a verse of Bat Out of Hell, meatloaf is easy-peasy to make and season as you wish, and in our case, I usually have the basic ingredients in our freezer and pantry. I like serving it with some kind of side vegetable and this time I had yams in the pantry. Chopping them into big chunks and just boiling them in salty water before mashing with some parsley and milk made for some very brightly-hued mashed potatoes, but they were a nicely sweet side dish with the savory meatloaf.

Who needs antidepressants when there's brownies and bubbly? - Photos by Wasabi Prime

You can't have a pity party without dessert, so what better treat to go with the all-American meatloaf? How about a good old-fashioned brownie to take the final edge off the day. As Homer Simpson would say, it's like homemade Prozac -- "Needs more ice cream." I've been sticking with the triple fudge brownie recipe from The Newlywed Kitchen cookbook lately. Yes, it's got five eggs, two sticks of butter and a big ol' mess of chocolate, but you don't get to your happy place without a few indulgences now and then. Luckily, because it's such a rich, decadent dessert, you have one small slice and you're good. At least for a few hours and then you inevitably sneak a second one. But hey, you've had a rough day. You deserve it. And as Scarlett O'Hara would say, "Tomorrow... is another day!"