Foodie Friday: My Favorite Meat Loaf

Happy Foodie Friday, dear reader. We have successfully made it through another week and welcome the weekend. The Smiling Goat Soap Company is home for the next few weekends. Our next in-person show will be The Ligonier Country Market Christmas Market on Saturday, November 4th, from noon to four. In the meantime, we will enjoy a few Saturdays of sleeping in and preparing for the upcoming holiday season.

Yesterday was a personal holiday at the Smay household. I turned fifty-one yesterday. Everyone I love reached out to me to make me feel special, and my inner circle went well out of their way to make my day special. We celebrated with fun and laughter. One of the birthday traditions we uphold is making the birthday boy's or girl's favorite meal. GramBarb, the original GB, made me meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, homemade rolls, and broccoli. She made me the comfort food I love. We followed dinner with a boisterous game of Telestration. Telestration is like playing the old childhood game telephone but with very poorly drawn pictures. We laughed and laughed. Ultimately, someone's drawing/guess always turned into boobies. Two guesses as to who the leader behind such shenanigans could be. Sigh.

Today, I will share my favorite meatloaf recipe. No judgment. Meatloaf gets a bad rap and is sadly underrated for its deliciousness. This weekend will be cold and rainy; it's the perfect weekend to make comfort food such as meatloaf. Adding mashed or scalloped potatoes, pickled beets, and a side of green beans will achieve comfort food perfection. End your meal with pumpkin cookies or ginger cookies, and you've created comfort food heaven. Yum!

Meatloaf

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Extra Lean Ground Beef

2 Cups Bread Crumbs (I like to use day-old bread broken into large pieces)

2 Eggs

1 Envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix

1 TBLS. Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp. Dried Parsley

1 Cup Ketchup

1/4 Cup Mustard

1 Cup Brown Sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare a 9x13 baking dish with a light coating of olive oil.

Mix the first five ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Using your hands (I know it's cold and gross, but it works best), thoroughly blend all ingredients until completely mixed.

Form a large loaf and place it in a prepared baking dish.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour.

Next, mix ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

When fifteen minutes remain on the timer, uncover the meatloaf, spread the top with the ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar mixture, and bake another fifteen minutes or until the sugar carmelizes.

Remove from oven and allow meatloaf to rest for ten minutes. Serve hot and enjoy!

This recipe reminds me of my childhood, warmth and comfort. I hope you enjoy my old-fashioned comfort food recipe.

On this cold, rainy October day, stay safe, be smart, enjoy comfort food, and keep washing your hands.