Be a Good Kid, Eat Your Meatloaf

The best home cooked meals I didn't have at home, I had at my grandmother's. There are two dishes in particular that we'd have on a Friday night that I still request when I get the chance. One is glazed chicken, the recipe for which has never been disclosed, and the other is meatloaf. 

There's no shortage of meatloaf recipes out there, and this one isn't shocking, but it's the favorite. Grandma likes to keep up with all things modern, so there's no pre-war kitchenware in sight - no retro stove that takes 30 minutes to warm up but gets as hot as Venus, and no 10-pound baking pan. It must be how she does it. As a retired program developer for TVO with a masters of education, she was no leave it to beaver housewife, but I still have visions of her adding secret ingredients when I leave the kitchen.

Here's what you need:

- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup of ketchup
- 3/4 cup of lukewarm water
- 2 slices of day-old bread, crumbed, with top crusts removed
- 1 package Lipton's onion soup mix (because she was a busy lady afterall)
- 2 pounds ground beef, chuck or sirloin

* In a large bowl, beat the eggs, and add the ketchup and water
* Stir in the onion soup mix with the day-old bread
* Mix in the ground beef, get the hands in there!
* Move the mixture to the meatloaf pan, making sure it's evenly spread but not too compressed
* Top with a little more ketchup and bake at 350 for an hour (give or take)

Serve with potatoes and asparagus, and even though we never called it this, what you've got is Shabbat dinner at Bubbie's.

I have a really tough time not experimenting with a simple recipe, but good is good. Was mine as good as hers? Depends who you ask.

GG