Meatloaf

On the first Monday of every month, my third grade teacher would pass out the Scholastic Book order form.    I LOVED IT!  I would wait until I got home, lay it out on my bed, and pour over it—every book and every word—4 pages, and when I was finished I’d do it again, saying to myself I want this and I want that…but we didn’t have a lot of money and I hardly ever ordered.    BUT, one Monday, there was a cookbook in there and I decided then and there I HAD to have it.  So I asked my mom for $1.96, she gave it with weirdly no questions asked, I filled out the order form, and turned it in on Wednesday morning.  Two weeks later it arrived! It was like Christmas!!  I put it in my bookbag and as soon as I got home I opened it up, started at page 1, and read it like a novel.  I was hooked.

My Scholastic Book

The next day I told my mom I wanted to make dinner.  She was all like “whaaaaaaaaaat?”, but readily agreed since both she and my dad worked 10 hour days and it was less work for her.  I gave her a list, she bought the ingredients, and the game was afoot!  I could see the trepidation in their eyes, forks raised to their mouths but hesitation looming, looking at each other like “you go first”, and finally my dad took the first bite. So good!! And I’ve been making it ever since.

What follows is a variation on that recipe—it’s come so far since 1979.  I’ve made it for every boyfriend I’ve ever had, won 2 awards with it, and it’s the treasured dinner of my children’s Godfather.  And I’m happy to share it with you here.  So many memories are made in the kitchen…get your kids in there with you :)

--------------------------------------------------------

3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
3/4 cup milk or tomato juice
1 egg, beaten
1 small, chopped onion
1 1/2 lbs ground beef (if available, buy meatloaf mixture in your local grocery store--usually a combination of beef/pork/veal)
1 packet meatloaf seasoning packet (I use McCormick's for simplicity sake, as it contains all the spices you will need)
ketchup
yellow mustard
light brown sugar


Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Long ago I did away with the meatloaf pan because it was a nightmare to clean.  Simply grease a 9x11 pan and set aside so you can free-form the meatloaf later.

Put breadcrumbs, milk, egg, and onion in bowl.  Mix until breadcrumbs are soaked.  Add seasoning packet and mix.

Add meat.  With clean hands, work all ingredients together until well mixed.  Shape into a ball.

Place in greased pan and shape into a rectangle, smoothing top.

Mix together:  1/4 cup ketchup, 2 teaspoons mustard, 3 tablespoons brown sugar.  Make this sauce mixture twice.  Spread one on top of the meatloaf and let drip down sides.  Place the other batch in the refrigerator until ready to use.

ready for oven

Bake meatloaf at 350 for 1 hour.  Approx 10 minutes before meatloaf is ready, heat 2nd batch of sauce slowly on stove until warm.

out of the oven

Serve with mashed potatoes and peas.  Pass heated sauce on the side.

(Note:  See picture below:  one of the early recipe variations in my 9 year old handwriting.  I see I used to use bouillon and only salt/pepper,  and check out the fancy name "Meatloaf with Tangy Sauce"...what a pain in the ass I was!! LOL)