Meatloaf…

You might consider the subtitle to this post: Did you know Kathy could cook?

Friday was Frozen Pea Friday. Happens every Friday. A bunch of us put on PEAvatars and work together to raise money for breast cancer research. I love cooked peas and I love a good cause, so it was probably a no-brainer that I would jump in and play.

This week, along with all the talk of frozen peas, someone mentioned that they were having meatloaf sandwiches for supper. My stomach went into craving mode. I have the world’s best meatloaf recipe. It was handed down from my mother and adjusted by Bruce and I.

This recipe is different than most meatloaf recipes. First, it has a tomato based sauce built right into the loaf and poured around the loaf while it bakes. Second, it uses oatmeal instead of bread or cracker crumbs as the extension. Third, kids love it.

When I was growing up, if it was meatloaf night, any after school activities got skipped or cut short. It is still the dish my mother makes for special occasions. Meatloaf, baked potatoes, and peas… what a wonderful meal. When Bruce and I got married, I tried to make meatloaf for him, but it never came out quite right. I was using her recipe, but it didn’t stick together quite the way it should.

I did what any good daughter would do. I told my mother to make it in front of me. :) Turns out, the recipe she had given me and the way she made it were different. If you read the recipe, you will see that it says to put the meat, the oatmeal, and the onions together and let it sit while you make the sauce. Her original recipe said to put the eggs in before the oatmeal, and didn’t let it rest. She had always made it the right way, but never updated the recipe.

From then on, whenever Bruce and I could, we made meatloaf “the right way.” When we started teaching Dutch Oven cooking classes, it became the most requested recipe. When we started doing websites, the meatloaf recipe was one of the first ones to go on OutdoorCook.com.

We don’t teach outdoor cooking nearly as much anymore. But, we still make the meatloaf. In fact, it is in the oven as I type this entry. I thought that I would share the story behind the recipe with all of you. Enjoy! Let me know if you want to hear the story behind any of the other recipes…