True Confessions…I’d never made meatloaf before. It’s not that I don’t like it. I like it perfectly fine. So, I’m not really sure why this is true.

Sammy was a steer raised by Jane’s father-in-law on their farm in Maryland. When we visited my sister Jane for Thanksgiving, she sent us home with Sammy the Steer’s tail and two bags of ground beef. We made this oxtail stew from the tail. The ground beef has been in the freezer waiting for the right meal.

I decided one right meal would be my first meatloaf. Jane gave me her recipe. When I called to ask a few questions about, I mentioned to her that I had never made meatloaf before. “Why do you think?” I asked her. She speculated that because our mother never made meatloaf perhaps it just wasn’t in my repertoire. She wasn’t sure why my mom didn’t make this meal because a meatloaf is basically a giant baked meatball, and Mom was half Italian and made great meatballs. That might explain it, though I don’t actually make that many of my childhood dishes. My mother was an excellent cook. It’s just that I eat differently now than I ate growing up.

I followed Jane’s recipe. I didn’t have seasoned breadcrumbs, but I had some croutons on the counter and some bread in the freezer. I toasted the bread and tore it up into pieces. I threw the toast pieces and the croutons in the food processor along with a teaspoon on Italian herb mix to make seasoned breadcrumbs.

It made a BIG meatloaf. It didn’t completely bind together. I might have added a little too many breadcrumbs, so I think maybe I should have added another egg. It also wasn’t completely cooked through after an hour. We ate from the ends, and the leftovers are getting zapped in the microwave, so no worries there. It was tasty. We’ll be eating leftovers all week.

Because I had the day off, I took advantage of the hours while I was hanging around the house, and I made some loaves of Country Olive Rosemary Bread from The New Basics. This recipe was much more successful than the Anadama Bread I tried to make during last week’s storm (it didn’t rise at all and I had to throw it out). I’m really not sure why one worked and the other didn’t, but I was glad it did. The olive bread was moist and hearty. It had chopped olives, onions, and rosemary with a mix of white and whole wheat flour. The only flaws were that the crust was a little softer than I would have liked and I added too much black pepper.

Jane’s Meatloaf

Mix together:

After that is mixed up, add 1½ lbs (give or take) ground beef.

Shape into loaf in greased baking dish.

Pour one can (8 oz) of tomato sauce over it. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Cook uncovered at 350F for 1 hour.