Meggan and Wade

[x-meggan.livejournal.com]

Taking a break from a Golden Girls marathon, Meggan and Wade make meatloaf, he dubs her Minion Number 2, and they make plans to watch The Star Wars Holiday Special.



Wade offered the bowl of popcorn to Meggan and propped his hip against the counter in the kitchen. "So I think we should watch Star Wars next week. Bea Arthur was in Star Wars."

Meggan grabbed herself a handful, before putting the bowl back on the counter for Wade. “That sounds good. Which one was Bea in? She wasn’t in the one with Jar Jar, was she?” She guessed that it was probably an older one. Meggan may not have actually watched all the movies yet, but she knew just enough about them to know the general plot. And to know that she might not like Jar Jar.

"She's in The Star Wars Holiday Special," Wade said, nodding. "So not the one with Jar Jar. But I figure we should watch all the other ones and then watch the Holiday Special. So we save the best for last." He grinned and ate another handful of popcorn. "Do you eat meat?"

“Sounds perfect. I won’t be lost when we get to the Holiday Special. And I can finally see the Ewoks, too, if we’re watching them all,” Meggan grinned. “Oh, it’s okay,” she confirmed as she stole another piece of popcorn from the bowl. “I can eat meat, it doesn’t hurt me.” Some in the school couldn’t, so she understood why it was asked.

"So you like meatloaf?" Wade was craving meatloaf. "I make a mean one. And I'm pretty sure there's stuff for a salad or something in the fridge."

“I love meatloaf. But do you make it with or without little bits of bell peppers? I love it better without those.” Those had always tasted strange to her, and she ended up just picking them off if they were there. “Did you see any cherry tomatoes in there?”

"I think I might've," Wade offered, nodding. He pushed off of the counter and went to go check. He pulled a plastic carton out and handed it over, then quirked a brow. "Meg, sweet Meg - meatloaf is made of meat and loaf. No peppers. I put some onion in, but really, it's just meat. And loaf." He grinned.

“Well, I went to a restaurant once, where they did it,” Meggan returned with a laugh. “I thought it was just a different way to make it.” That time had only been her second time eating it, so it was an easy mistake to make. “So they just got very mixed up on a busy day and put it deep inside the wrong food order,” she guessed with a grin.

“So just meat and loaf and onion is great,” Meggan teased back. She took the carton, beginning to put several of the little tomatoes into a bowl for the salad before she paused. “There’s more than enough of these in here for you, too, if you like them.” Someone must have gone on a shopping spree.

"Or they were using the wrong recipe," Wade said, nodding solemnly. Reaching over, he took a cherry tomato and popped it in his mouth, chewing as he rooted through the refrigerator to make sure everything he needed was inside. "Meat, onion, salt, pepper, ketchup, horseradish..." He pulled everything out and put it on the table. "Loaf. We need loaf." Turning, he looked along the counter until he found one. "And we're a go." He stole another tomato. "I need a blender."

She popped one of the smaller ones into her mouth before answering once she’d spotted the blender. “Oh, there it is--over there, just to the left of HB2.7. Really easy to miss.” Coffee makers with bundles of accessories easily concealed blenders. If the two of them kept sneaking bites of cherry tomatoes between making the rest of the meal, they wouldn’t need to try to make a salad with little extras. There wouldn’t be anything there except for lettuce. Still fun trying, though.

After tossing all his base ingredients together in a bowl he pulled down from the overhead cabinet, Wade went and grabbed the blender. He tried to be extra quiet so he wouldn't wake up the coffeemaker that kept telling him he wanted raspberry drinks. He didn't want raspberry stuff. He didn't even like coffee. Heading back to the bit of counter he was using, he pointed at Meggan. "You, I dub thee Minion Number Two. Find me a thingie to put the meat in for baking. A casserole thingie!"

Checking around, Meggan found something that looked like it was just about right for the making of meatloaf. “Here is your casserole thingie,” Meggan intoned as she brought over the long rectangular dish. She couldn’t help but laugh at the minion drama. “I’m dubbed Minion Number Two? Does Minion Number Two have a specific job, or is it just follow you around like a caddy?” Maybe it was being charged with watching more Bea Arthur, which was the both the weirdest and possibly the best minion job ever.

"The main job of my minions," Wade said, looking around for his other ingredients, "is to be awesome. You seem to do that, anyway. Also, it's good when you're helpful. Can you hand me two eggs and the milk? That casserole thingie is perfect." He grinned. "I mean, I can give you a specific job, if you like."

“Thank you. Sure, I’ll get them!” Meggan ducked into the fridge, bringing back the requested items. Two eggs remaining balanced in one hand to make a quicker trip, before she carefully handed them over. “Depends on what it is I’m assigned,” she replied with a grin.

Accepting the eggs, Wade cracked them and put them in with the rest of the ingredients, then turned to the bread and the blender. "Your first assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to get this bread in crumbs with the blender while I chop up the onions. See, I'm a considerate, benevolent overlord - I don't want you to cry while working with the onions, so I'll take that hit."

“Oh, that’s an easy one. I can do that.” Meggan found some napkins while she was beginning to tear the bread into small chunks, and put those near Wade, before returning to the task. You never knew, the onions could cause him to need them. “For the possible tears, you benevolent overlord,” she joked.

Wade practically beamed. "I'm also a benevolent dictator," he said, starting in on the onion with gusto. "Once you finish making bread crumbs, dump them out on a plate or into the meatloaf - we only need about two or three slices of bread, I'd guess. Then we'll puree the onion so there's no crunchy bits involved. I like my vegetables cleverly disguised."

Meggan nodded. “That’s three slices and a quarter of a piece that fell apart from another,” she said as she dumped the bread crumbs into the meatloaf. It didn’t seem like too much. “So no hints of green are wanted in your version, unless it’s a nice little mushy layer hidden away? Got it.”

"No green," Wade confirmed, laughing a little despite himself. "Here, want to get your hands dirty? Have you ever made meatloaf before?"

“No, only eaten it,” Meggan answered with a shake of her head. “But if you tell me what to do, I can try.” She didn’t mind if it was a little bit messy.

"Excellent," Wade said, stepping over to the blender and putting his chopped onions in it. "So basically... well. Wash your hands. And then just kind of... mash everything together really well. I'll add the onions in once they're pureed."

Meggan did just that, bringing over an extra dish towel just in case either of them needed one to clean up with later. Instead of spreading the stuff that came with raw meat. “So very squishy,” she noted at her first touch of it. As she mashed things together in the bowl, she asked, “Just regular mashing down like this? No tricks to it?”

"Nope, no tricks. Just make sure you squish it all into a pile in the middle - sometimes the ketchup can be difficult, getting all stuck on the outside and stuff." Wade finished pureeing the onion, then took a spoon and put them all in the mixture. "Once it's all mixed, I'll lift the bowl and you scoop it all into the casserole thingie. Then wash your hands again." He made sure there was nothing in the oven, then turned it on.

Meggan poked a few craters into the middle of the meat and surrounding bits once she thought the mixing was just about finished. Maybe making miniature swimming pool-like areas for the ketchup to go into could work? “Think that could help keep some from being trapped outside? Or would it just drown in ketchup? If it won’t hurt, then it’s ready for the casserole thingie.”

"Looks perfect," Wade said, lifting the bowl so Meggan could slide the meatloaf into the casserole dish. "And into the oven it goes. We'll wait about forty-five minutes and then check on it," he said, squirting ketchup on top and then sticking the whole thing in the oven.

“Good!” Meggan washed her hands thoroughly once that was done. As she turned away from the sink, she suggested, “There’s a timer somewhere around here if you think we might need it.”

"You don't trust me to watch the clock?" Wade asked, pulling a wounded expression over his face.

“I trust you. Don’t you trust a timer?” Meggan teased back. She would trust it--unless it had broken since the last time it was used, anyway. “A little ding to remind us can’t hurt, can it?”

"Well," Wade said, heaving a sigh, "I guess..." Walking over, he set the timer, considered Meggan, and then asked, "Want to see another episode of Golden Girls while we wait?"

“Oh, I’d love to watch another. It’ll make the time go by slightly faster.” If the smell of finished meatloaf happened to reach them before a good ding was heard, then it would have finished way ahead of schedule.

Gesturing for Meggan to precede him, Wade grinned. "And we're off!"